The Borrowers Grown Up
by Jayne1955
Summary: 'When I grow up, I think I'll marry Spiller." Arrietty thinks that would be a good idea. Pod seems noncommittal, and Homily thinks Spiller would be all right if Arrietty tied him down a bit. What does Spiller think? Some days he thinks it's a good idea, and some days he doesn't. How long will it take for him to make up his mind, and will Arrietty change hers?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Preparing to Move

There were days when Miss Menzies almost believed she had imagined the borrowers. Every day for many a month she had walked down the path past Vine Cottage in Little Fordham at least once hoping to see Arrietty, Pod, or Homily. After awhile though, she began to doubt herself, or despair that she would ever see them again, the little folk who had made themselves so happily at home in Vine Cottage and then had so mysteriously disappeared.

When she expressed these doubts, though, Abel Pott would shake his head, and say, "Margaret, my dear, I seen them with my own eyes. You're as sane as I am."

As they had worked to fix up the cottage in the hope that one day the small people who had settled in at Mr. Pott's model village that one glorious summer would return, she had become Margaret to him and he had become Abel to her, and they had developed a warm affection that kept her going when she despaired.

She was not the only one who had despaired over the loss of Pod, Homily and Arrietty. Spiller had as well. When he had discovered Arrietty missing and the cottage deserted he had been stuck with a feeling he had not felt in many a year. It was a feeling of loss that had devastated him. He had been stunned and had checked back at the cottage often as he traveled up and down the river, hoping like Miss Menzies that Arrietty would someday return.

It comforted him to be there, and when he found something special on the paths, like a handkerchief, or a broken necklace chain, he took them to the store room they'd made in the back of the shop. Once he found a leather coin purse and thought for a long time how much they all would have liked that. Coins made wonderful plates and Pod would have liked the soft, thin brown leather for shoemaking. Spiller could picture Arrietty wearing a new pair of brown shoes made from that leather.

When he'd first seen her Arrietty had been walking around the field with her parents in quite worn out clothing and shoes, looking Spiller found out later, for the badger's set not knowing that the Hendrearys were long gone. They hadn't seen him but he had watched them with interest.

Spiller had been looking for the boot. He was fond of that boot. It was one of his favorite haunts, but when he discovered it had been moved and then found where it had been moved to, he knew right away that there were different borrowers about than he had ever seen before. He'd checked over their gear and decided to use their half nail scissor to cut up some mouse he'd just killed. While cutting up the mouse he'd glanced through the grass and seen them trudging along the edge of the field with some corn.

Arrietty had been dragging along as much corn as Pod, back straight and looking determined. That's a plucky one, Spiller had thought, admiringly. Her curly brown hair had been streaming behind her in the breeze, her cheeks had been pink with exertion and her eyes had been bright. Pretty, too, he decided. A very pretty girl, that.

He had watched, amused, as Homily shouted, "Save the tea" and began to beat with a thistle at the moth that had wandered into the alcove they'd made. Moths were not dangerous but Spiller had to concede that owls could be. He was a bit concerned as the owl swooped down and took the moth. He knew the almost silent sound of an owl, what their shadows looked like, and how to freeze into invisibility so an owl would pass him by but these borrowers were obviously new to the outdoors.

He'd have to go and introduce himself at some point and try to help them. He put the meat he had hanging into the back of the curve of a large tree root, and stuffing some more fleece into another root hole of the same tree he went to sleep, wondering how adaptable these new folks were going to be.

When Spiller saw Pod set off across the field the next day he decided that the new man in the area had a determined look about him and wondered for the first time if he might be looking for the Hendreary family. That would explain the new family's hike around the field the previous day.

Spiller got a bit of a shock when the women went down to the water. He could understand their need to fetch water but he could not understand the girl taking off all of her clothes and getting in herself.

When the mother left the girl saying she was going to "go get the tea on" Spiller watched thunderstruck as Arrietty stayed in the water and went for a tentative swim after she had scrubbed off. He had never seen a strange girl naked and it caused a hodge podge of feelings. And she was a girl, not completely a grown up, but close, he had no doubt of that. Nigh onto grown, but not quite.

He was a bit relieved when she got finally got dressed again and started to climb the hedge. Spiller ducked into the hedge and started to climb as well. He stopped just below her silently as she carefully pulled the horsehair out and wound it around her slender wrist. The girl had nice long hands and feet and was a nimble climber for one who had spent most of her life indoors, and he was convinced she had grown up indoors by the way the whole family acted and by the fairness of her complexion.

Spiller was able to get quite close, almost next to her, and as she put one foot down he set his hand on the branch. She touched him and gave a tiny scream. Amused, Spiller pulled away and watched her as she tried to figure out what had happened. Finally seeing something, she put her foot down again, and this time he grasped it. When she lost her balance and went down he dropped down beside her, laughing. Life was so unpredictable!

"That frightened you," he said. He could tell she was more embarrassed than angry, although her voice was angry, and when she asked him his name he gave it freely.

"You're filthy," she had told him, and that didn't bother him. She hadn't been outside to learn much about camouflage.

Spiller gave evasive answers about where he lived and how old he was. He did know about how old he was even if he no longer remembered his exact birthday although he knew it was in the fall, and whether or not he was a boy or a grown up was a matter of opinion.

To the Hendreary family he was a boy. To his friend Burgonet and his wife, Arista, he was a man. To old Daubery, he was sometimes one and sometimes the other. Now that he was seeing her up close he thought he might be a bit older than this girl was. She looked about thirteen or fourteen. He was at least sixteen, and maybe seventeen. He'd lost track a bit in those first few years he'd been on his own. He'd have to think about it sometime.

When she said the hole in the bank was her home he almost told her that he had been the one to find the boot in the first place but then decided not to bother. There would be time for that later. He'd not left anything there to indicate ownership, after all. They hadn't known when they were arranging things that another borrower had ever been there.

When he killed the mouse he got a better judgment of her character. She was shocked, as anyone who had never seen meat killed would be, but her interest in his quiver and arrows showed keen curiosity.

He almost knew when he picked it up that the cricket was not a good idea, but he pushed the thought aside. He wanted for some reason to give this girl something and wasn't sure what. He couldn't imagine anyone not wanted a nice leg of mouse, but you never knew what people liked until you got to know them.

When Homily took off on him he was slightly hurt but had faith in the girl's indignation on his behalf. This woman might not know she needed his help, or be ready to accept it, but help she did need. He decided to come back when the husband was home. He looked like a more reasonable sort.

As he left, Spiller heard the girl scolding her mother, "Poor Spiller! You were rude…" and laughed softly. Yes, this girl had gumption and he came to like Pod, who reminded him at times of his own father, and was much more sensible than Hendreary, or old Daubery down at Holmcraft. Burgonet over in Went-le-Craye had been pleasant enough to hang about with even though he was a few years older than Spiller, but since he'd gone and got married to that girl he'd found from Befordshire Spiller didn't spend as much time with him.

While Pod, Homily and Arrietty were gone he had even taken to hanging about the Hendreary's home more often through that long, cold, winter, much as Lupy's chattering and putting on airs irritated him. They were a link to Arrietty. When he had first told them how he had found Vine Cottage they had grieved with him, going into mourning all over again for their lost relatives. They were willing to speculate with him through the long cold months about what might have happened.

Only Eggletina, however, had understood Spiller's deeper sadness. One night, having come in for a meal and his new spring clothes, which Lupy had just finished, grumbling all the while about how she was started to run out of white kid, Spiller was getting ready to go when Eggletina uncharacteristically followed him to the dimly lit platform by the ladder.

"You mustn't give up hope," Eggletina had told him. He had stared at her, shocked. He had never had a conversation with her, no more than she had ever had with him, but now she was trying to comfort him.

"Pod is clever and Arietty has spunk. Wherever they are and whatever caused them to leave so suddenly won't keep them away forever. Arrietty cares about you, Spiller, enough to…enough not to…" Her words failed her.

"What makes you say that?" He really wanted to know.

"I know from the way she talked about you. When you first brought them here you slipped away and Arietty was practically crying. She said they should have thanked you for saving their lives. She mentioned you so many other times, too. Mother used to tease her about it. Arrietty thought you must be lonely."

"Never was lonely" Spiller said thoughtfully, "or at least didn't know it until I met Arrietty. I like her, Eggletina. Want her back more than I ever wanted anything, at least not since I was a tot." He smiled slightly.

Eggletina squeezed his arm. "That's the ticket," she said. "You don't sound like a boy when you say that. You sound like my oldest brother. Halberd wants something of his own and he's often out of sorts because he can't have it. You're getting like that Spiller, and that's all right. I'm sure it will turn out just fine. Arrietty will come back and then you will be happy."

"What about you?" Spiller ventured.

Eggletina shrugged her thin shoulders. "I'm not happy, but I'm not sad, either. There's really nothing in my heart."

"Not so," countered Spiller. "You care, too. I appreciate that." 

"Tell us when you find them," Eggletina said with a small smile, and slipped back toward the drawing room where Lupy still speculated on all of the horrible things that might have befallen her brother's family, in between complaining about the temporary groundskeeper who was staying at the cottage. He was leaving any day, having only been contracted until spring, when young Tom was due back.

"Never thought I'd say this," Lupy muttered in a huff, "never in a million years, but I'll be glad when the boy's back. This one's been lazier than an old dog in the sun. Things have just gone to wrack and ruin around here."

As Spiller left the Hendreary family and rode down to see his friend Burgonet and his wife, Arista, in an effort to keep from thinking too much about the loneliness caused by Arrietty's disappearance, Spiller tried to think as well of all the reasons things were so complicated for him with Arrietty.

The fact that they were both a bit shy hadn't helped. They could really only talk when they were alone. When they were with her parents, neither of them could talk freely, although he could talk endlessly with Pod, who reminded Spiller in many ways of his own father. He did agree with her parents that Arrietty played too much and dreamed too much. He'd had to survive on his own since he was small and had never had a chance to play. Arrietty's games wasted time that he thought could be spent in more practical pursuits, and had put her into danger more times than he could stand.

He had softened a little toward all work and no play, though, as he'd gotten to know her. Riding the trains with her at Little Fordham hadn't put any food on the table but it had done him good. He'd enjoyed her company and got his own pleasure from just watching her delight at each new experience.

When they'd danced to even out the sand under the floor at Vine Cottage he'd been embarrassed at first but Arrietty had taken his hand and they'd begun to twirl, clumsily at first, then more smoothly, swinging and stamping, and in the end when it was all done he had to admit he'd had a glorious time. He always had a good time with Arrietty.

He had never minded lingering with her and Pod and Homily. Homily could be annoying the way she'd fawn over him one moment and be exasperated with him in the next, and she'd developed a strange habit of staring at him as if she didn't quite know what to do about him. He wasn't sure what it meant but he suspected it had to do with how he felt about Arrietty and how she felt about him. What Homily thought of him meant nothing compared to what Arrietty thought of him.

He liked being with her enough to change his routine quite a bit, just so he could be with her more often. He found excuses to stay, excuses to help, excuses not to visit his other friends and the other people he traded with. He'd rather be with Arrietty than anyone else, and even as he enjoyed every minute of that summer, the idea of it unnerved him a bit.

Now that she was gone he was back to his old routine, climbing all the drains he knew, scavenging at the gypsy camp, cooking his solitary meals in the flue behind his stove, but all the time he wished he could find out what had happened to Arrietty. He thought about it as he traveled downriver.

When he pulled up and started to moor his boat Spiller wondered if he was making a mistake. Burgonet and Arista would welcome him. He was sure of that. He often would stop in of an evening bringing along goods he'd picked up here and there but visiting wasn't much use anymore. Arista had been orphaned and trying to make her way to Little Fordham when she'd accidentally wound up near Ballyhoggin in Went-le-Cray instead. Spiller was glad Burgonet had come across Arista before the Platters, who owned the Ballyhoggin miniature village found her wandering about, but she did put a damper on the enjoyable companionship he and Burgonet had occasionally shared.

Arista was pretty enough, and was grateful to Spiller for the supplies he brought, complimenting him effusively on his daring and skill, but the adoring way she looked at Burgonet the rest of the time got on Spiller's nerves after awhile and he'd have to shove off. Now he knew why. He was looking for something that Burgonet had already found. He wanted someone to think he was special for just being who he was. Daubery thought he was special, but it was just for what he was. There was a big difference.

With a sigh and a shove of his hat pin he got ready to head back to Little Fordham. Before he got into the middle of the river, he looked backwards. He squinted at the bend of the river, to where it went around a curve and tears stung his eyes. He understood loss, but he got really tired of it at times.

When Spiller had woken up to see Pod standing in the doorway he had been very happy for a moment. Then he had felt a bit of anger. They had gone off and not told him where they were going and he didn't understand that.

When Pod had mentioned that they had been unable to get out of the attic they had found themselves in, and he had gotten the whole story of their kidnapping later that night, Spiller was mollified although he had wondered a bit if Arrietty had thought about him as much as he had thought about her those long winter months.

Apparently she had. Pod brought it up when he and Spiller had left the cottage for a walk after Arrietty had admitted she had befriended Miss Menzies. That had left Pod really shaken, Spiller less so. They continued to discuss the possible move to the mill for a bit and then Pod brought up Arrietty's fondness for humans and what that would mean as she got older, that is, old enough to have a family of her own. Spiller, although he agreed that having too much contact with humans was dangerous, was not so sure if Miss Menzies was the dangerous type.

He'd watched Miss Menzies himself and found her, like Mr. Pott, to have certain characteristics more common to borrowers than human beings. She was good at picking up any old thing and making something of it and didn't seem to care much for the company of other humans. She was quiet, gentle, and never made those quick and clumsy movements that human beings tended to make.

And as for Arrietty's talks with Tom Goodenough, well, Spiller had talked to him many a time himself. Very useful the boy had been over the years. Of course human beings tended to get more dangerous with age and Tom had left when he was getting to the tricky stage but when he came back to the groundskeeper's cottage Spiller was pretty sure he, like Lupy, would be glad to see him.

It wasn't, as Arrietty had mentioned, like he didn't know the borrowers were in the cottage anyway. Spiller had pointed this all out to Pod, and even reminded him of something that Arrietty had confided. Pod had gotten quite familiar with a human himself, if you counted Great-Aunt Sophy, which Pod was not inclined to do.

"Depends on how you look at it," Pod had said. "She didn't really believe. She thought I came out of the decanter. I do miss her at times, though. I wonder if she's still alive. I wish she could have seen Arrietty. That one time I took Homily she was ever so pleased. I think she would have liked Arrietty and if Arrietty had been able to go to Her bedroom with me she might have gotten this human hankering of hers out of the way."

"Maybe," Spiller said, even though he didn't think so.

That's when Pod had dropped the bombshell that brought it all together for Spiller and made up his mind to speak to Pod during their excursion to the mill. Pod had indicated without saying so directly, that should Spiller ever be interested in settling down Arrietty would be more than willing to do the settling with him. Not that Pod though his daughter was anywhere near ready to make a decision like that.

"You know, Spiller, Arrietty's quite fond of you. Quite fond…she's said so. I'm not going to be around forever you know and neither is Homily. Later on when we're gone Arrietty's going to need someone to take care of her and she's kind of gotten it into her head that your sort of life might suit, although Homily and I think it would be too hard a life for Arrietty. Have you ever thought about settling down a bit because she's already said she'd like to be the one settling down with you. I want you to know this so you can give it some thought. If you're not interested, don't lead her on. I don't want her hurt."

Spiller, who had just leaned over his boat to check his moorings, had looked up in surprise, his black eyes sharp. He hadn't until Arrietty had disappeared. The he'd begun to connect it all. How Arista and Burgonet were getting along had reminded him of how much he liked being around Arrietty.

"I wouldn't do that," he finally said, "and I will think on it."

Pod winced as they walked back to the house, wondering if he should have brought any of it up at all. He wondered if he was putting ideas into the boy's head that hadn't been there before, but as headstrong as Arrietty could be when she wanted something, he thought a word to the wise was the better course.

The fact that Arrietty had spoken to the Hendreary family fondly of him had helped Spiller decide. He'd already begun to sort out his feelings for Arrietty further after his talk with Eggletina and after he had left the Hendreary's home, he had gone to sleep thinking about some of the adventures he and Arrietty had had together.

She wasn't afraid at all when they'd gone down the drain, trusting him completely. He'd liked feeling important in her eyes. When he'd had to save them from Mild-eye, twice, he knew she must have been terrified but she'd kept her head. He also thought he understood now the way she thought. Her love of nature was a plus. He had enjoyed helping her with the garden although he knew on some level that the humans would notice it eventually, and when he'd taken her to learn to fish for minnows she had been a natural.

The chrysalis had been as big of a mistake as the cricket, but her longing for beauty in her life was something he had been unable to resist satisfying. They were lucky to have gotten it out of the house in time, but when it was out and flying away, Arrietty had stood with him watching it go and had reached out absently to take his hand, a spontaneous gesture that had felt very right to him, and besides, she was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen.

Old Daubery down Holmcraft way had five daughters, and had hinted to Spiller many a time that Spiller was getting to the age when he might want to think about a wife, but Spiller, while he thought that all of Daubery's girls were nice enough, had never had much of a connection with any of them except as girls he'd grown up with.

He didn't think much of Daubery as a possible father-on-law, either. Daubery was of the old school that women stayed at home and men borrowed. He was horrifically disappointed to have that many girls and was trying for a boy even though his wife wasn't in the best of health. Spiller thought that silly. The oldest girl, Hemiola, was about Arrietty's age and certainly capable of learning how to borrow. Spiller believed in doing what needed to be done and if you had to do it with a girl, so be it. But while he was firmly on her side, the way Spiller felt about Hemiola had been nothing compared to how he felt when he was with Arrietty.

Pod was right. At some point he'd want someone, and if Arrietty already thought that she wanted him she was the logical choice, but this had to be handled delicately, especially since neither of them was ready to make that sort of commitment. What she thought now might not be what she would think later. She was still very young. Establishing that such a thing was possible, though, would go a long way to making both he and Arrietty happier. Spiller was pretty sure of that. He'd have to talk to Arrietty at some point and set some ground rules for their relationship.

He hadn't been able to see her face when they went back to the cottage and Pod had delicately hinted to Arrietty about the direction her life was going, and why she must not talk to humans, and for that he was glad. Pod handled it well and Arrietty had gotten the point without Pod having to say too much.

Talking about a home of her own and settling down to have a family of her own had done the trick. Spiller knew then that their lives tended that way now but he'd have to give some more thought as to what his feelings for her really meant and what kind of timeline they were talking about. The idea was as terrifying in a lot of ways as it was appealing, especially to a young borrower like himself used to living just as he pleased and doing what he wished, whenever he liked.

But Spiller had not been able to stand her tears when Pod had made her promise under the electric light never to talk to any humans. Knowing he would be perfectly safe doing so he had agreed to go speak to Miss Menzies. He had his own reasons for that. Miss Menzies, besides being the soul of propriety, might come in very handy someday when Spiller needed something specific that was hard to get.

But first he had to get the family moved into the mill. Having escaped captivity and returned to Little Fordham, Pod was determined to clear off as soon as possible. High living was a blessing at times but it could also be a curse. The old mill Spiller had described to him seemed like a much safer spot for the family. So with the help of Spiller they made their plans.

Spiller and Pod had wanted to go see the old mill the next day but they'd all overslept. It was too late in the morning to set off when they finally awoke. Pod, Homily and Arrietty had been exhausted, and Spiller had been too comfortable.

Arrietty had slipped down after her parents went to try out their new bed and brought him the quilt Miss Menzies had made for her bed. He's been lying on the hearth rug, looking at the dying fire when Arrietty had appeared with it.

"Take this, Spiller," Arrietty had said softly.

"Don't need it. Keep it," he'd answered, more gruffly than he'd intended.

"I want you to have it," Arrietty insisted. "I want to do something for you after all you've done for us."

He grinned then. "It's only human, Lupy would say."

Arrietty smiled, and wrapping the quilt gently around his shoulders had silently slipped back upstairs, leaving Spiller to fall into the first deep, dreamless, untroubled sleep he'd had in many a month.

When she came down in the morning Homily saw it but decided it best to say nothing. She'd just brushed back his dark hair gently, and when his eyes had popped open, startled, she'd said, "Spiller, my boy, the morning's getting away. We've got to feed the fire. It's too late for breakfast. Might call it brunch, I suppose."

Spiller had gotten up and hastily folded the quilt. When Arrietty came downstairs he handed it to her and she almost took his breath away she looked so pretty. She was wearing the dress Mabel had ordered for her, with a clean white pinafore, and had her hair brushed out. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were clear. She was happy and it showed. She took it back upstairs as Spiller decided to nip out the back door. Going for some more wood was what he said to Homily but he really needed to have a look around. He'd heard a noise as Homily had begun to bang her pots, and wasn't sure what it was.

He went carefully toward Mr. Pott's house. What he had heard was a motorcar pulling up to the front door, and the sound of human children, a lot of them. He slipped up to the back door and positioned himself alongside it where he could hear everything but still be able to duck for cover if need be. It was a few days before the model railroad usually opened. Abel Pott and Miss Menzies had been working for at least a week to tidy up after the winter. Spiller had watched them while he'd stayed at the cottage but they usually didn't take visitors in until April 1st. This was odd.

A young man had come to visit Mr. Pott with his wife and children. Apparently his father had worked on the railroad with Mr. Pott and this man's family remembered him kindly. Mr. Pott bustled around as best as he could on his wooden leg, making them tea, as the older children, looking like stair steps in size, played with some barbola figures on the floor. The young woman held a baby about six to eight months old, as far as Spiller could judge, and children were something he could definitely judge. Looking at this family brought back a lot of memories of days gone by.

"You must meet my Margaret," Abel Pott told them. "Once she gets here we'll finish our tea and biscuits and then we can go out and I'll let you have a look at the railroad. You'll like the station, I wager. It looks just as the station did when your Pa worked there."

My Margaret, thought Spiller. That sounded serious. Arrietty would be so pleased. He backed away from the house and walked back to Vine Cottage, picking up twigs on the way. He had a whole armful when he got to the back door and he had to kick it with his foot to get someone to come and open it for him.

Pod appeared and let him in. "Spiller! We were getting worried about you, son. Didn't think you'd be gone so long, Homily didn't." He paused and looked a bit pained. "She made omelets with your sparrow's eggs. Hope you don't mind. They're good omelets, with a bit of that cheese in them, and fried up just right."

"That's fine," Spiller answered over the twigs, which he dumped next to the hearth. "I got news. Tell you while we eat." Between mouthfuls, he explained in terse sentences about Mr. Pott's visitors.

"Oh, my," Homily said. "We won't be able to do anything today with all of those children running about. If they're friends of his then they'll probably stay a long time and that Mr. Pott will probably let them run around loose while he explains every blasted railroad tie to the parents."

"That's all right," said Pod. "I want to get out of here before that other lot figure out a way to get over the fence and come looking for us but that will take awhile. They're probably just trying to figure out now where we've gone to."

"They'll probably turn the whole attic upside down looking for us," Homily said. "Even if they think we went out the window they won't have any idea of how we got off the roof."

"That's so," said Pod. "It will take them at least a few days to sort it out. Spiller and I can go to the mill tomorrow, if that's all right." He shot Spiller a quick glance. He never liked to order Spiller about. He had too much respect for Spiller's many talents and was too grateful for all that Spiller had done for them to be high handed with him.

When Spiller nodded, Pod continued. "We've got things to sort through anyway. Homily wants to wash and mend some of the clothes and now that we have a tap she don't have to go outside for that." He shot Spiller an apprehensive look. "I've been thinking about it and I'm not sure making another balloon is a good idea. We were lucky to have pulled it off once and the fact that we got where we intended to go was all due to good luck and the fact that Arrietty was able to read the instructions so clearly. Not sure if we could do that again."

"I see your point," Spiller said. "Always the chance someone will look up, too." 

"But they wouldn't be able to reach you," Homily argued. The idea of the balloon had frightened her more than she could stand but once she'd gotten up in it she had been both pleased and proud.

"One boy with a slingshot," Spiller pointed out, "you'd be done. You also hit that fence without meaning to. Wind's an unpredictable thing." He took a big bite of omelet, chewed slowly, swallowed and then glanced over at Arrietty. "They'll be visiting at the house for awhile but when they're done I'm sure Pott will blow the whistle like he always does. Fancy a ride in the train for old time's sake?" He really wanted a chance to talk to her alone.

"Oh, I don't know about that!" Homily exclaimed.

"Perfectly safe," said Spiller firmly. "Those humans won't notice. Just sit in the car with the false ones like we used to. If you're moving on it will be a nice way for Arrietty to remember the trains."

Pod and Homily finally agreed, and Spiller and Arrietty slipped out and went silently to the station, with Spiller carefully looking in every direction, the way he usually did. They climbed onto one of the passenger cars and settled into a seat next to each other to wait. Arrietty, looking down at her hands, finally spoke.

"Is it my last ride on the train?" She sounded accusing. "You and Papa told me that I could come back here sometimes but I wasn't sure if Papa meant it. I thought I could trust you."

"You can trust me," he said, his black eyes flashing. "I'll never make you a promise I don't think I can keep." He sighed, however. "Your parents I'm not sure of. They like it indoors. I think when they get to the mill they intend to stay in. They're like Lupy that way. Once she went in the wall she never came out and I reckon she never will. Hendreary and the boys, they come out when they have to, but it's not their nature. Me, I like the outdoors. Mind you," he said hastily, "indoors has a place but it's not something I could do all the time."

Arrietty shyly reached out and squeezed his hand. "I couldn't either. I was starting to feel like Lupy's place was a prison. I even liked the boot better than that, as much as I liked seeing the cousins. Of course we'd never have made it through the winter in that boot but in the summer I was happy there."

Spiller squeezed back. "Have to show you the tunnel behind the stove sometime. Think you'd like my stove." He looked out the window then. "Remember when we first came here?"

"Oh, yes, it was so beautiful in the moonlight. We had so much to carry, not that I minded," she added hastily. "It was splendid of you to give so much gear to get us started. I loved it when you took me around the village."

"That beetle in the station scared you," Spiller said with a laugh, remembering that great black beetle.

"It just started me," said Arrietty. "I'm not scared of them, but I wasn't expecting that one. Mother loved it when we looked at all of the houses closest to the water. Papa was right to tell her to stay on the water side. Mind you, I love the way the shops are set up. Miss Menzies did a wonderful job, but it's just not practical to be on that side of the village. One has to be practical sometimes."

"Yes," Spiller agreed. "That Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott are getting along so well, wouldn't surprise me if they decided to finish their lives together."

"You don't mean it!" Arrietty exclaimed.

"I do. Calls her 'dear Margaret' now, and goes to her house for dinner of an evening now and then. They go shopping in the village together and do have a lot in common after all."

"Oh, that would be ever so lovely," Arrietty said with feeling. "His wife died only a few years after they married, you know, and Miss Menzies was just devastated when she lost her dear Aubrey."

Just then they heard voices, Mr. Pott's, Miss Menzies, the young couple and the excited squeals of the children. The whistle sounded and the train began to move. They stayed as still as could be until the passenger train made a familiar jolt and left the station.

"Remember when I first saw you," Spiller told Arrietty, "carrying corn back from the field. Looked right plucky, you did. I thought you were pretty."

"I remember when I first saw you," Arrietty laughed, "or at least your hand. You startled me as much as that beetle did. When we fell off the branch I didn't know what to think. I was so angry but at the same time I liked the way you looked, too. Your eyes are so black and you have the loveliest smile."

"Then we went up to the boot and your mother told me to go away, that she never wanted to see me again," Spiller laughed.

Arrietty looked embarrassed. "She didn't mean it. She just had a horrible fear of borrowers that lived outdoors. It didn't seem natural to her and you really were very dirty, you know. House borrowers aren't used to dirt, and she'd spent her whole life under the floor. I told her she was rude. My father wanted to meet you, though."

"I remember when he did, when I handed him that hat pin, after I'd sent you down the river on the soap box. I was so angry with you, Arrietty, for playing with those frogs and not paying enough attention to hear the gypsies coming. That dog was so close."

"He could have gotten at you, as well. I had just never seen frogs until we came out from under the floor. Everything was new to me, but you saved my life, Spiller. Then my mother adored you once she knew that. And when you gave her meat! That made you wonderful to her."

"For awhile," said Spiller. He looked out the window again. They were passing the church. Arrietty saw it, too, and colored.

"I'm sorry you had to listen to all of that last night. All that talk about how I should behave when I get a family of my own and my own home. That must have been so embarrassing for you."

"Why?" was all Spiller could think to say, still staring out the window.

"It's my entire fault," Arrietty said suddenly, burying her face in her hands. "I started it. The way I feel about you is what's making them think that way. I've been so stupid but I couldn't help it. You have saved my life, over and over, and I was so grateful, and you seemed as lonely as I was at times. Lupy called you solitary, and I remember thinking that's what I must be. I was already missing the out of doors. I love riding these trains with you. Mother was always too afraid to try. She's still afraid of them, I think, but it never bothered me, because I was with you. I always felt safe with you, whether we were riding the trains or working in the garden or fishing. I loved every minute of it. I missed you so much, Spiller."

"Missed you, too," he said, looking back at her."While you were gone I thought about you a lot. Didn't understand why you would leave me without a word."

"I wouldn't have," Arrietty said passionately. "The hardest thing was my knowing that you didn't have any idea of what had happened. Whenever we were in trouble before we could count on you to come along and save us, but in the attic we couldn't. We had to come up with something on our own. I thought about you a lot when we were working on the balloon. You would have loved it. I wanted you to see it, and be proud of us for finally figuring a way out on our own, but then it broke and I was so disappointed and upset."

Spiller laughed. "That why you were in such a mood when I found you on the fence? I thought perhaps you weren't glad to see me again after all."

"Did you?" Arrietty looked into his black eyes, and in spite of his laugh saw a bit of pain there. "I was gladder to see you than I want you to know, gladder than you should know. You'll probably be very angry with me when you do."

"What does that mean?" Spiller asked, puzzled.

Arrietty took a deep breath. "That's what I mean about all that talk being my fault. I need to confess. You need to know the truth about all of that. The fact is…I told my mother…that I…that I wished I could marry you when I grow up."

Her face flamed, and as Spiller began to laugh again she got angry. "I know it was a stupid thing to say but you don't have to laugh at me like that!"

"Not laughing for that," he said finally, catching his breath. "I'm laughing because you made it sound so serious and secret when it's something that I already knew, and I did already know it. Your father told me last night before he made that big speech. I knew he was saying it for my benefit as well as yours and I'm not angry, Arrietty. I'm sort of, well, flattered, I guess."

Arrietty looked at him wide eyed. "You knew? You knew the whole time? And you let me go on with it like that?"

"Very entertaining it was," he admitted, "and since I wasn't angry about it, what else could I do?"

"Oh, Spiller," Arrietty exclaimed, hitting the seat in front of her with frustration. "You can be so exasperating! Sometimes I don't know whether to kick you or kiss you!"

At that, he looked right into her eyes, his own eyes flashing with amusement. "Well, if I had my choice, I'd rather you kiss me. It would be a whole lot easier."

It didn't seem like it would be to Arrietty at all, but having put it out there she felt like she had to carry on. So she leaned in very slowly, her cheeks pink with embarrassment, and pressed her lips to his.

He slowly raised his arm and brought it around her shoulders when she went to pull back and then he kissed her back, drawing her a lot closer. His kiss was much longer and the way he was holding her felt wonderful.

Arrietty wanted this kiss to go on and on, but eventually he moved his mouth away, just long enough to draw a deep breath, and then kissed her again and she liked it even better. His cheek against hers was rough but warm. They kissed over and over, all the way from the shops and back toward the station. When they were almost there they finally stopped kissing and stared at each other for a long moment.

"That was nice," Arrietty finally said, smoothing back her hair. "I've never kissed anyone like that and I always wondered what that kind of kissing was like."

"It is nice, kissing is," Spiller admitted.

Arrietty thought of something then that had never crossed her mind before, not concerning Spiller. She asked him a single question then, fearing what she might hear. "Has any other girl ever kissed you? Or you them?"

His eyes wavered, but only for a moment. "Just once."

Arrietty's back stiffened. "Who was it?"

Spiller sighed. "I have a friend down the river that I trade with, old Daubery. He has five daughters. He's been trying to fix me up with the oldest one for awhile. He's been telling me he thinks we would suit and he's been telling her. She kissed me once, probably to see what it was like too, but it's not the same with her as it is with you and that's the truth. I lived with them for awhile when I was first working the river, and honestly, Arrietty, I don't think of Hemiola that way. I never did and I never will. She's like a sister to me."

Arrietty wasn't mollified by that. "When I told my mother I wanted to marry you, she said we were more like brother and sister!"

"That's Homily for you," Spiller sighed. "Arrietty, don't you see? Your mother really doesn't want my kind of life for you. She'd be a lot happier if you had a good house borrower and stayed indoors."

"I do know," said Arrietty fiercely, "but that's not what I want."

"Well, we don't have to decide now. What are you, seventeen?"

"Almost. I turn seventeen in June."

"Thought so. Think I'll be turning nineteen in the fall. That's not old, you know. We have time to think about it and decide what we want to do."

"You think you'll change your mind?" Arrietty asked in a small voice as the train came to a stop in the station, and Mr. Pott shut everything down, much to the dismay of the clamoring human children, who didn't want to leave Mr. Pott and Miss Menzies and go home.

"No, but a lot can happen between now and the time we're ready for that. I am dirty most of the time, you know," he said lightly. "You might change yours."

"I don't think so," said Arrietty. "I like some kinds of dirt, just as I like grass and trees and the river." She kissed him again, putting all of her meager experience into it.

When the kiss ended, the humans were gone and it was quiet on the path so they got out of the train. As Spiller helped Arrietty out, he said wryly, "Don't think your father would approve at all of what we've been doing."

"We don't have to tell him," said Arrietty, as they started back to Vine Cottage. On the way they found a cardigan, pale blue, of the finest, softest yarn either of them had ever seen. "This belonged to the baby," Arrietty said gently. "Isn't it wonderful? What Mother couldn't do with yarn like this!"

"Let's take it, then," Spiller said. He looked toward Mr. Pott's house. "They haven't missed it. If they had they'd have come back for it by now and it's a warm day. That baby isn't likely to take a chill without it."

So they did and when they got it back to the cottage Homily was enraptured by it. She wanted to start unraveling it then and there, and putting the yarn into skeins. "If I could just get a couple of those pins with the big round heads," she said, "I could knit us all blue socks and jumpers." She ran her hand over a sleeve and nodded, "This would make lovely blankets, too, if I just had something to bind the edges with."

"We have quilts on all the beds now," Arrietty pointed out. "What do we need more blankets for?"

"Everything that's here needs to stay here," said Pod. "We don't want them to know we've been here if they ever check and besides, if we ever come back to visit, or Spiller does, we might need these things."

"Got a white handkerchief in the store room," Spiller said. "Would that do for binding? You could cut it up. I'm sure Miss Menzies has lots of pins. She sews. I can get some from her. I have to go see her anyway. I promised Arietty I would, since she made that promise not to talk to any more human beings."

"Oh, dear, Spiller," do you think you should?" Homily wailed, and he nodded tersely.

"It's all right, Homily, really. I know what I can do and what I can't and I'm not afraid of that Miss. I'll get you pins and a new needle and thread. You can sew and knit to your heart's content while I take Pod to see the mill. You'll be safer here if I do. She can keep an eye out for that lot on the other side of the river until we're ready to shove off. After I get the handkerchief, I'm going to go watch for this Miss to leave Pott's place. I'll be back by dinner time."

When he got up from the table, Homily threw her arms around him. "You brave, brave boy!"

Arrietty rolled her eyes, "Miss Menzies is not going to eat him, Mother. She's nice. He'll see." She went to Spiller and hugged him, too, a hug he enjoyed more than Homily's. "You'll tell her everything? Everything you can?"

"Everything I can," Spiller promised, looking into her eyes. He wanted desperately to kiss her again but he decided that they'd had enough kissing for one day and it was no use upsetting Homily any more. He winked instead.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The History of Spiller

When he left Vine Cottage he could hear the motor car pulling away. Spiller made a bold decision. He got the handkerchief and took it back to Homily who fell at once to cutting it up. Then he headed back out. He really didn't fear Mr. Pott anymore than he did Miss Menzies, so this time when he went to the kitchen door he stepped inside. Mr. Pott was sitting at the table with his wooden leg extended out. All of that walking about with the young couple and the children must have tired him. Miss Menzies was washing up the tea things at the sink. Spiller took a deep breath, and in as loud as shout as he had made since he told Pod to cut Mild Eye's fishing line, said, "EXCUSE ME!"

Miss Menzies jumped, dropping a dish into the sink, and Mr. Pott's head snapped round. "Land sakes!" he cried. "Look here, Margaret. It's another one, as bold as brass!"

"Spiller? Oh, my word! It's Spiller, isn't it?" Miss Menzies said, looking as if she were about to faint.

"Yes'm, it's me. Might I have a word with you?" He stood just inside the door, ready to jump down and run if he'd misjudged them. It would be tricky but he couldn't see Miss Menzies making good time in her skirt, or Pott on his wooden leg, either. He glanced toward the sink. "Is the dish all right? Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine. It didn't break." She put down the dishtowel, and turned all the way around to face him. "Whatever are you doing here, Spiller? Arrietty said you hated being seen, and while I thought I saw a glimpse of you several times, I never saw you clearly." She looked carefully then at his dark hair, dark eyes, and the teasing v-shape of his mouth that Arrietty had described so clearly. "What's become of them, Spiller? Do you know? We've been so worried."

Spiller leaned on the doorframe and told them about how the family had been kidnapped by humans who wanted to put them on display, how they'd been taken over the river and held prisoner in an attic all winter, how they had escaped out the window when spring had come and returned to Little Fordham. He didn't go into the balloon. He hardly thought it necessary, although Arrietty had been proud of it and wanted Miss Menzies to know.

Pott slammed his hand on the table. "Knew whoever it was had come in the back way. No way them devils could have gotten through the house."

Miss Menzies' eyes were filled with tears. "Thank goodness they made it back. I never heard the like of this! But are they all right now? No one is hurt?"

"No ma'am, not hurt. But Pod, he's done with humans," Spiller said honestly. "He plans to move on as soon as he finds a new place to live. Made Arrietty promise never to talk to human beings again. Don't trust any humans anymore. He's afraid that other lot, finding them gone, will just try to come back and steal them again. He'll never be easy in Vine Cottage any more. Don't know if that's right or wrong, but he's determined. Arrietty did promise but she cried like a tot when she had to do it. So I said I'd come and tell you what happened. That made her feel better, that and I told her we could come back and visit the village of an evening now and then. I can bring her down in me boat."

Miss Menzies' shoulders drooped. "I can't blame Pod. What they must have gone through. I'd hate human beings, too, if I were him."

"Oh, he don't hate you," Spiller assured her, stepping a bit further into the room. "No hate. Just doesn't think any good comes from trying to live too close with strange humans knowing where you're at. Them others are bound to think they came back to the cottage once they figure out they got away. Anyway, now you know. I wish Arrietty could have told you all this. She would have you know, if she hadn't promised."

Mr. Pott nodded. "A promise is a promise, especially to yer dad. Now me dad told me once…"

"Oh, Abel, I'd love to hear all about him, but I'm sure Spiller needs to get back" Miss Menzies interrupted. "They're probably worried sick that we have him in a shrimping net, just like those others." She looked at Spiller. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

He nodded. "I wouldn't say no to a couple of those round headed pins. Homily needs 'em. She grinds down the points you see and uses 'em for knitting needles. A real needle would help, too, if you got a spare small one. She wants to make some new clothes for the new place. A needle and some thread…got any white?"

"Oh, yes, yes, I do!" Miss Menzies said. "You mean quilting pins. I have some here actually. After I got done making those quilts for Vine Cottage I made another one just for fun and then was doing some mending for Abel." She left the room for a moment, and Mr. Pott and Spiller just stared at each other.

"She's a good woman," Abel Pott said finally, leaning forward. "She'd never have hurt you lot."

"I know," said Spiller. "She took care of them best she could. Guess she's taking care of you the same, as best as she can." His mouth turned back up at the corners then, and Mr. Pott laughed.

"You're a cheeky little devil, but you're right. Just been sad over your lot, that's what's been hard. Sick and sad, and I never thought she'd get over it or I'd ever hear the end of it. You kept your promise to Arrietty. Will you keep one to me?"

"If I can, "Spiller said uncertainly.

"You come back to visit, you bring Arrietty around, see? That will please them both. She might've promised not to speak to Margaret, but that doesn't mean she can't hear!"

Spiller thought about this, and grinned. "See your point. I do. It's a deal, then."

Miss Menzies came back into the room with a basket full of sewing supplies. She picked out a spool of white thread, the shortest needle she could find, and she stuck four pins of just the right sort carefully in under the edge of the thread. Setting the basket aside on the floor next to the wall, she spread out a scrap of calico, and set the spool in the center. Carefully bringing up the edges, she made a bundle, which she carefully slid onto one of the wooden skewers she used to spread glue into tight spots when she was doing woodworking.

Spiller watched her with interest, his eyes drawn to the sewing basket. She had a lovely thimble with a dotted design on the top and a leaf design around the edge. "That's pretty," he said. "Me mum had a favorite thimble she used to drink out of. It had spots like that on the top, but it had roses around the bottom."

When Miss Menzies was done the package looked like a hobo's bag. "Can you carry this, Spiller, without hurting yourself?"

"Think so," he said, eying it. She set it down slowly and carefully on the floor about a foot away from him and backed away. She didn't want to frighten him. When he picked it up and hefted it over his shoulder it was heavy but manageable. He didn't have that far to go, after all. "Thanks," he said.

"Thank you, Spiller," she answered. "I want you to have this as well." She held out something colorful, tightly rolled up and tied on both ends with a scrap of yarn. "It's the extra quilt I made. I want you to have it. I know how hard this must have been for you and I appreciate it more than I can say. Give all my love to Arrietty and tell her I miss her. I know how much she trusts you so I trust you, too. I trust you to take care of her."

'I try, but she don't always make it easy," he said with a wink. "Thanks again." He tucked it under his arm and told them goodbye.

Miss Menzie's stood in the doorway and watched him go. She looked back at Mr. Pott with a sigh. "How nice he is, as nice as Arrietty said he was. He reminds me of dear Aubrey."

"Nice of you, my dear, to give him that quilt."

She shook her head, her eyes bright with tears. "I was going to make a whole lot of things, sort of a hope chest. I thought perhaps when Arrietty got a little older she and Spiller would choose one of the other houses. I know that's what Arrietty was hoping for. You could tell how much Spiller meant to her by the way she talked about him. No use now. They're all going. It's such a shame. Homily would have been so happy in Vine Cottage and Arrietty and Spiller could have set up housekeeping nearby and we'd all have been happy together."

"At least now we know what happened," Abel Pott said. "That's something, and he did promise to come back and see us. Maybe things will settle down eventually and they can come back to live. The fence should hold off most anything, but you never know."

"No," said Miss Menzies. "You never do." Then she brightened. "Abel, if they're afraid of the ones that took them before coming back I think I know how to help but we'll have to work fast."

"Ain't good at working fast," he said, shaking his head.

"What if part of it is something that's already mostly done and the rest is something you've done before?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "What have you got in mind, Margaret?"

Homily was delighted with the sewing supplies and the calico it came in was a treasure. They all admired Spiller's new quilt. Homily said the pattern was called bricks and cobblestones. "What a job she must have had, that Miss Menzies, to do this with those big hands of hers. At least now, though, Spiller has one of his own." She glanced over at Arrietty, who was ladling soup into bowls, and smiled slyly. Arrietty didn't meet her glance. She kept her head down and kept spooning the soup.

As they sat down to dinner, they made Spiller tell them the whole story of his visit to Mr. Pott's cottage three times before they were satisfied with it.

"I figured they put up the fence because of what happened," said Pod. "Stood to reason that was the only way someone could have gotten in. You didn't tell them where we were going did you?"

"No," said Spiller firmly. "You still want to go check out the mill tomorrow? Now that Homily and Arrietty have something to keep them busy they won't spend the day fretting over us. Might be a good day to do it."

"I think so," Pod answered.

"Would you mind being away overnight? I want to get some flour and cornmeal while we're there, and there's a family a little bit further down river that could probably use some, too. I haven't been making the rounds like I usually do. They could put us up for the night, and we could come home next day."

"S'pose we could," said Pod slowly. "We do keep you off your normal routine at times. I think Arrietty and her mother could do without us for one night."

So that is what they did. They went to bed early so as to get an early start in the morning, and Spiller found his quilt to be just as comfortable as Arrietty's. The only difference was that he planned on taking his with him when they left Little Fordham. Homily made him and Pod a breakfast of tea and toast, and she and Arrietty wished their men a fond farewell. Spiller and Pod went to the fence, slipped through and headed down the river in Spiller's knife box boat. Spiller was hoping to find some more food along the way. The bread had been fine when he had brought it to the cottage, but it was only fit for toast at that point.

"What ever happened to your soap box boat?" Pod asked.

Spiller gave him a long look. He never had gotten used to answering questions. He liked to keep his private business private, but finally he decided he was being silly. "She's well hid further down river. When I'm planning on a lot of cargo this one is better. For traveling light the soap box is better."

"Won't the miller see us coming up on the place?" Pod asked, worried.

"No," Spiller said, steering carefully with the butter knife he used for an oar. "Goes away in the spring to see his children and grandchildren. Come winter, does his repairs on the mill. In the fall, he's running day and night keeping up with the harvest. In the spring shuts down for a couple of weeks as soon as the weather's nice and does his visiting. No one should be there at all. Be locked up tight as a drum it will be. Have to go underneath this time. This boat just fits. There's other ways, but right now this is easiest when the mill is closed."

Pod shuddered as they went under the great wheel, imaging what a disaster it would be if it were turning. But Spiller was right. They just fit under and were able to pull up and tie up without much trouble.

The mill was everything Pod had hoped it would be. One old human and a regular routine appealed to him. He wasn't as adverse to the outdoors a Homily was, but he'd been brought up as a house borrower, and he still felt the most comfortable indoors.

Spiller had stayed at the mill on and off over the years and gave Pod a pretty fair tour. As they walked around, they picked up things, scraps of wood, wire, and string, among them. It reminded Pod a bit of the gamekeeper's cottage when it has been emptied of humans. Spiller was able to point out the different types of machinery that the mill used to make the flour and corn meal, and even had figured out pretty much how the machinery worked and how the materials traveled throughout the mill by way of lifts, pulleys and belts, which he thought would interest Pod. He knew how handy Pod was and admired him for it.

Spiller also showed Pod some of the older equipment that had been retired. The room where that was stored had a loose board and led to some good sized spaces out of sight beneath the floor. That is where they took the borrowings and began laying out how the new home would be.

Spiller had made a bedroom/storage room for himself in one section next to the wall and the large space he'd claimed was filled with odds and ends including a pile of burlap sacks just borrower size.

"A friend of mine borrowed the big bag," Spiller commented, as he gathered up an armful, and his wife cut it up into smaller ones for me. I have bags stashed in several of my places. Have 'em when I need them. We can put up shelves and then separate the storage area from where I sleep. Homily would like it better if I wasn't sleeping in the storeroom when she's here. Don't mind knocking the space into two rooms. Mine doesn't have to be too big."

There were several other sections that made decent sized rooms. Pod could see them easily leaving Spiller a small space for when he needed it and still having a decent bedroom for him and Homily with another for Arrietty plus a fairly nice sized combination dining and living room. It would be like old times. They would be under the floor again where they belonged.

"Here in the hall after the storeroom area and my space," Spiller said, pointing when they began to rough things out, "you're up against a fireplace. If we can find something to use for a stove, that would be the best place for a kitchen. We can pick a hole open to put a pipe in and send your smoke up the old man's chimney."

Pod walked over and laid his hand on the fireplace casing. "Could do, but what could we use for a stove?"

"We'll have to think about it. I'll have to look around," Spiller admitted. Pod and Spiller both appreciated the construction techniques that were used on the mill.

"Built in 1830," said Spiller, "or so he says," he being the old miller. "I've heard him tell. Proud of the place he is. Made of good hemlock, oak, pine and hickory and lots of good old fashioned square iron nails made in forges by them that knew what they was doing." Spiller glanced around. "Used to be a gathering place for the townsfolk when every farmer grew his own grain. Women used to use the second floor for their weaving looms. Things is different now. Not as good for the human beings to my mind. It's made a lot of them stupid. Not self sufficient anymore, not by a long shot, but better for our kind. Quieter here with just the few carters."

Pod smiled. "Homily will be happier for that, I'm sure."

Spiller stared at Pod, his black eyes almost boring into him. "What about Arrietty, though? She likes outdoors. You told her she could come back to Little Fordham of an evening, that she'd have outdoors instead of just in. Just talk that?"

Pod looked at Spiller uncertainly. "Well, yes we could do but I think once she gets settled in she'll be all right and get used to it, like. Be like it used to be when we was under the floor at Firbank Hall."

Spiller shook his head, the unfairness of it all washing over him and making him impulsive. "She's not that sort, Pod. She's the type that needs air and sun. Now that she's had it you can't take it away. Chain her up and she'll just be another Eggletina. Nice girl, Eggletina. I like her. But she's not had a happy day since they went into the groundskeeper's cottage. It's like that cockroach in a tea strainer you told Arrietty about…the one Hendreary's boy had. Eggletina's just as trapped as that cockroach, and it's sapped the life out of her." He shook his head. "Don't do that to Arrietty. You do and I'll put an end to it."

Pod frowned. "Is that a threat, from you, Spiller my boy?"

"It's a promise," Spiller said, standing tall and throwing caution to the winds. "All that matters to me is she's happy. If she were happy here I'd leave her be, but if I ever think she's not, I'll do me best to make her happy someplace else and you know exactly what I mean. You might not like the sort of life I lead, but she'd like it I think, at least for awhile."

"She's too young to think of leaving us and running off into the wild," Pod exclaimed, running his hat pin along the crack in the floor.

"Aye, she's young. Agree with you there. Always have. Got a bit more growing up to do. Takes longer to mature under a floor than it does when you're brought up to live by your wits. That's right. But I'm willing to wait and see, Pod. I'm willing to wait and hope."

"Hoping isn't getting," Pod pointed out.

"We'll see," Spiller said, thinking about everything that had happened since Mabel and Sidney had come along and since Arrietty's family had escaped their clutches. When they had done all the work they could, He and Pod filled several borrowing bags with flour and several with cornmeal and speculated on how good cornbread or corn mush would taste cooked on the little iron stove back at Vine Cottage. Spiller had a nice lump of butter cooling by the river and had left some tea and sugar at the cottage amongst his other clutter and they had perfect faith in Homily and Arrietty's ability to make something of it

In the old man's kitchen they'd found a forgotten digestive biscuit that made a fair dinner, washed down with water. When it was dark, they set off down river once more. "Daubery and his wife Sateen have five daughters," Spiller said. "They'll make something good from this flour."

"Five!" Pod exclaimed.

"Daughters," Spiller said grimly, "He's disappointed 'bout that. Hemiola is about sixteen. Semplice and Sennet are twins about thirteen. Elegancy is ten and Actina is seven. He's been trying to have a son to go borrowing with, but I don't think he's ever going to. Sateen got very sick after Actina was born. Didn't think she'd make it there for awhile. Personally I think he should just be happy everyone is healthy now."

"I agree, "Pod said, nodding firmly. "Homily and I talked about it once while we were living at the big house. We agreed to teach Arrietty to borrow. If I'd had a boy, I would have taken him, but since we didn't have no boy, I took Arrietty. Didn't work out well, but I tried."

Spiller pulled up in a small hollow, where the river had washed out under part of a tree root. He helped Pod out, and handed out two bags of cornmeal which Pod hoisted onto his back. When he reached for the flour, Spiller shook his head. "I got it." He was tired, but Pod was more tired and Spiller knew it.

Pod managed to get his bags one over each shoulder and they headed up the bank. There was a house there, a nice house, and following Spiller Pod slipped around to the side. A piece of board that had patched up a hole was not nailed down, and setting down the cornmeal bags, Spiller was able to swing it much the way they had done at the gamekeeper's cottage before they saw the ferret. Pod staggered in, set down the bags, and Spiller handed in the other two. Then he came in himself and lowered the board. Picking up the bags again he started down a dusty passage. Pod could see a faint light at the end.

As they trudged down the hall, they heard someone say, "What's that noise?" and then a small voice chirping, "It's Spiller! It must be Spiller!"

A girl appeared in the passage, clapping her hands with delight. "It is! It's Spiller! And someone else, too!"

"Hallo, Tina," said Spiller, dropping a bag to pat her on the head. "You miss me?"

"Always miss you," she said, jumping up and grabbing his arm. Spiller swung her onto his hip. "What did you bring and who's that?"

Spiller laughed. "Cornmeal and flour, and me friend, Pod. Ask your mum if she's got a spot of tea for us. It was a beautiful day but the night is nippy."

He set down the child who hurried back to her door. Standing in it was a small man, a small woman who turned and hurried out of sight, and another girl, bigger than the first one. The man came out and took one of the bags from Spiller. "Good to see you, my boy," he said.

They went into a hole in the wall and Pod followed. It was a bright, cheerful room with a rug made out of braided yarn, and a sofa made from a block of wood. It was padded with some kind of stuffing and tacked all around with brass tacks. There was the usual chest of drawers made of matchbooks that could be found in nearly any house borrower's home. There was an enormous dining table made from a pair of child's blocks, with a piece of wood fastened to the top of them surrounded by eight champagne cork stools.

The father shouted at the twin girls to come and take the bags to the kitchen and so they did, even though they could only carry one at a time. "Girls," he said, "useless girls." He looked Pod up and down and held out his hand. "I'm Daubery. Pleased to meet you. Any friend of Spiller's is a friend of ours. He's almost like one of the family he is. Wish he still was! As he might have told you, I'm short of sons."

"Pod Clock at your service," Pod said, shaking the hand, and looking him up and down just as closely. Daubery was a big plump man, with a neatly trimmed mustache and beard dressed in a roomy pair of black trousers and a white shirt. "I only have one daughter meself. My Arrietty is back with her mother in Little Fordham," Pod told him

"Oh, Little Fordham!" cried Actina. "I wish I could see it someday."

"Someday, perhaps," Spiller said, sitting down on the sofa, but her father shook his head.

"You girls belong at home until you get homes of your own."

The thin, older woman came in then, with hot tea for Pod and Spiller, and a tall thin girl who looked almost exactly like her brought some bowls of warmed up stew, and cakes with jelly. The mother looked worn and pale, except for dark circles under her eyes, and the girl was pale herself with long, straight hair of a medium brown, which was a trait she shared with all of her sisters. They all had straight, shining hair and it was clear that they never spend any time out of doors.

They gave Pod their nicest silver thimble to use as a cup, a pretty one with a vine design going around it. Spiller smiled, and then sighed. He was glad they were being considerate to Pod, but drinking cups made out of thimbles would forever remind him of his mother,

"Thank you, my dear," said Pod. The girl blushed and backed away to sit at the table with her parents and sisters and eat cake. Pod stayed on the couch with Spiller, eating off a small table made from a cedar trinket box that sat in front of the sofa.

"Hemiola makes good cake," Spiller remarked, and set the serving girl to glowing.

When they were done eating Daubery and Spiller settled accounts. In return for the flour and cornmeal, Daubery gave Spiller a big bag of sugar and a big bag of rice, and smaller bags of pepper and salt.

"You can take these things," Spiller told Pod when the deal was done. "Homily and Arrietty can cook with them and I can come and eat with you sometimes."

Then the girls came and sat on the carpet and they all listened to Pod and Spiller tell the story of how Pod's family had been living at Little Fordham, how they had been kidnapped, had escaped, and about the proposed move to the mill. Even the thin mother propped herself on a cork and listened, when she wasn't taking the supper things back out to the kitchen.

When they got to the part about the balloon everyone was on the edge of their seats. "Good thing for us that Arrietty learned to read," said Pod. "Or we'd be in that cage house now. That article in the paper about ballooning saved our lives."

"Yes, well, I can see that," Daubery acknowledged grudgingly, "but for the most part I don't hold with educating borrowers. Makes them too human and girls certainly don't need it."

"Wish I could've seen that balloon, though," said Spiller. "Was never so glad to see anything as I was to see Arrietty coming down that fence. When Pod's lot disappeared it took the wind out of my sails for sure. I missed her."

"She missed you, too," Pod assured him. "She talked about you all the time. We were all glad to see you when we got back to Little Fordham but I really think that mill is the place for us. Plenty water, plenty grain, and if the old man is short sighted so much the better. It'll do me good to be back under a floor. This," said Pod, waving his hand expansively, "is the proper sort of life for a borrower in the end."

"Yes, you'll do better at the mill than in the out of doors," Daubery said. "No good ever comes of being too outdoorsy. I keep telling Spiller that. It's all well and good when you're young but it'll catch up with him eventually. He'll settle down sooner or later in a good house like a proper borrower should."

"We'd miss the things he brings us," said the oldest girl a bit sulkily. "We'd miss you, Spiller."

"Not ready to retire yet," Spiller said, "except for the night." He glanced at his host. "Think we could have a bed? Have to be off early, but can't go back now. We've been busy all day."

"The back bedroom is yours anytime you want it, lad," Daubery said. "You know that, and your guest is welcome. Feel free, Pod, to wash up at the tap in the kitchen if you wish."

Pod did wish, and Sateen took him in to show him where it was while Spiller ran down to check on his boat and get Pod's spare clothing and his quilt. "Spiller isn't one for a wash up," she said amused, hearing him go down the hallway. She pulled a plug from a water pipe to pour Pod a bowl of water and he felt such a wave of homesickness he sighed.

"We used to live in a house like this, under the floor. But we was seen and we had to go. As for Spiller, well, it's part of his cover not to wash," answered Pod, accepting the scraps of material she gave him to use as a washcloth and towel when he washed his face and hands. "Those outdoor borrowers make themselves look like the outdoors. Can't even see Spiller against the ground unless he wants you to." He breathed in and said in delight, "Sandalwood soap!"

"Spiller found it in a drain, so he says. I was glad to get it," Sateen told him. "Daubery has a hard time getting any farther up than the kitchens here."

"Must be the drain we used when we left from visiting my brother-in-law and his wife," said Pod. "They live on the other side of Holmcraft. They have three boys and a girl and live in a groundskeeper's cottage. Eggletina, the girl, she's the oldest. Halberd, the oldest boy is next and a bit older than Spiller, I think, and Grego is about your Hemiola's age. The youngest boy is Timmis. He'd be about eight or nine now. Thank you," said Pod, holding out the wet towel.

"Nice to know we're not the only big family left," said Sateen, taking back the towel.

"My Arrietty should meet your girls some day," Pod said. "She's always going on about how we're dying out. It bothers her that she doesn't know too many others. It was different when we lived at Firbank Hall when I was a boy. There was borrowers from the stables to the rain pipe, from the kitchen to the mantelpiece. We used to have parties and the cousins all knew each other. Not like that now. She gets lonely. It was a relief when we met Spiller. He's been a great help to us and Arrietty enjoys being with him. He taught her to fish, and took her riding on the trains in the town, and he helped her plant her garden. I don't know what we'd do without him."

"Everyone loves Spiller," Sateen said tightly.

They heard a slight noise in the hallway. "That'll be him now. Follow the door off the great room. Spiller's in the last room at the end. You shouldn't need a dip. Our fireplace lights our great room and there's a light above that hallway that they burn all night that shines through the cracks in the floor. We're below the hallway that leads from the maid's room to the kitchen. If the lady of the house needs anything at night, they have to be able to get up and go. They don't want to be stumbling around. The chamber pot is behind the door. I'll have breakfast ready at dawn so you can get an early start before there are too many human beings on the river banks."

"I'm much obliged," Pod told her. When he followed her directions, he found Spiller rolled up in his quilt on a rug made from an old potholder.

"Take the bed," Spiller said, jerking his head. It was a cardboard box lid lined with a mattress made from a linen handkerchief sewn together and stuffed with what felt like fleece. The blanket was made from piece of knitted scarf.

"Nice bed," said Pod.

"I lived here for awhile when I was first on the river," Spiller said. "They've always been nice to me. Just can't stay too long. I get restless and start feeling trapped."

In more ways than one, I'd wager, Pod said to himself, before he dropped off to sleep.

After Pod and Spiller left Vine Cottage, Arrietty held the cardigan flat while her mother cut out the sections she wanted to turn into blankets.

"If I don't make the edging too wide," Homily mused, "I should be able to do three easy using this handkerchief. I want to get them done before we move to the mill so they're ready to use. I'm not sure how long it will take us to set up the rooms there. If we unravel the rest of it and make skeins we can take them with us and I can do the knitting later."

"This would make a hundred skeins!" Arrietty said sharply. "We can't take this whole thing with. There wouldn't be room in the boat for us!"

"Well, we can leave some here," Homily said. "Spiller can bring it as we need it. He did say he was coming back now and then, and I don't blame him. Tomorrow is the first and then the humans will start coming this weekend and there will be plenty of borrowings."

"I want to come back, too, sometimes," Arrietty said. "I want to come back with Spiller to visit."

"I know you do, dear, but once we get settled in the mill there won't be any need. Spiller can handle borrowing in the out of doors and your father will handle it indoors. You won't need to borrow anymore."

"But I want to," exclaimed Arrietty. "I don't want to spend my life indoors knitting. I like indoors and outdoors! I like doing things with Spiller. I still think it would be fun to be married to him someday."

"That's a foolish notion," Homily said sharply, tossing the edge of the handkerchief to Arrietty. "For one thing, you're too young to make that kind of decision. Marriage isn't about fun. It's a commitment. Hold this end down, will you?"

Homily got a better hold, and then went on."I know you like him and he likes you, but another thing is he's just not our sort, Arrietty. I like him. I wish I didn't, but he is likeable, and useful, too, but he's still not our sort."

"That's not fair, Mother," Arrietty said sulkily. "You didn't like it when Aunt Lupy looked down on you, and here you are looking down on Spiller after all he's done for us."

Homily paused right in the middle of cutting a strip of handkerchief. "Are you saying I'm like Lupy? You wicked girl! The things you've gotten into your head since we left Firbank! Those outdoor borrowers aren't the same as house borrowers, whether it's a borrower from under a kitchen or an Overmantle. I'm trying to get past it, Arrietty, I am, but I want better for you."

"There isn't anything better, Mother. I more than like him. I think I could love him, given some time. I really do." Arrietty didn't know why this was such a difficult concept for her mother to grasp. Her father was being so much more practical about it.

"You don't know what love is. Who does at sixteen?" Homily exclaimed.

"I'm nearly seventeen, and you got married at eighteen. I think you're being very unfair. Spiller is wonderful and we'd be wonderful together. You'll see." Arrietty looked down at the strips of handkerchief. "Shall I go and thread the needle?"

"Yes, you'd better," said Homily, dropping the subject gratefully.

They had one blanket edged on two sides before they got too stiff from sitting. A shadow passed by the window, and Homily cried, "What's that?"

Arrietty walked over and looked out. "Miss Menzies just went past. I think she and Mr. Pott are doing a final check before the village opens for visitors."

Homily glanced out the window, too. Miss Menzies was nowhere in sight but there was something in the High Street, something big. "Whatever is that?" Homily wondered.

"A paper bag," said Arrietty. "Shall I go see what's in it?"

"Oh, no," Homily exclaimed. "We don't know where they are. We don't want to be seen again."

Arrietty looked carefully. "If it's not too heavy I could quickly bring it in. If she's dropped it she probably won't know where. It might be something useful." She was beginning to think it was something Miss Menzies had dropped deliberately but she didn't want to tell her mother that.

"Well," Homily vacillated, "be quick about it." She watched as Arrietty ran through the remnants of the garden and got hold of the side of the bag. It toppled onto its side quickly causing Homily to gasp, but Arrietty was obviously not hurt by it and was able to drag it to the back door where with a little pushing and shoving, they got the opening of the bag inside. Arrietty stepped into the bag and looked around.

"Looks like half a lunch," she said. "I see a bunch of grapes with seven left, half a ham sandwich wrapped up, and a chocolate biscuit. Here, take the grapes. Then we can bring in the biscuit and it will be easier to get to the sandwich." When they had all the food in the house and were pushing the bag, it tore. While they managed to save a large piece of the paper, the wind caught the rest, taking it down the street. "Sorry that got away," said Arrietty sadly. "We might have been able to use it for something but now it's just litter."

"Can't be helped" said Homily. "I think we should wash three of these grapes and have them now and save the rest for when your father and Spiller come back. There's just enough."

"Just enough," Arrietty agreed more certain than ever that Miss Menzies had left the food on purpose. She and her mother washed the grapes and cut theirs in quarters, and chopped off a nice slice of sandwich for each of them.

Another shadow passed the window, and Arrietty peeked out to see Mr. Pott carrying a lot of tools. He walked a fair distance down the path, and Arrietty could see Miss Menzies several streets over. She was so far away she looked borrower size.

"I do so wonder what they are up to," Arrietty mused. Homily shrugged.

After they ate they went back to their blanket making and had one done by suppertime. They had another slice of sandwich and broke off a quarter of the chocolate biscuit. Then they managed three sides of a second blanket before bedtime. When Arrietty went to bed, she tugged the quilt tightly around her, remembering the feel of Spiller's arm around her shoulder. Mother has to change her mind about him, Arrietty thought. She just must. Arrietty went to sleep happy.

In the morning they scraped out a bit of the butter from the sandwich and used it to make the last of the dry bread palatable when they toasted it. They wanted to save the fresh bread for when Pod and Spiller came back. Then they finished the second blanket, and bored with sewing, began to unravel some of the yarn and loop it into skeins.

Whatever Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott were doing across the yard, they were going at it great guns. Homily watched them for awhile, too, curious, but they could not tell what was going on.

Pod and Spiller had a heartier breakfast than Homily and Arrietty did. Daubery had borrowed a strip of bacon and a hen's egg from the kitchen, which Sateen and Hemiola cooked for everyone. They cut up the bacon into pieces and fried it, then scrambled the egg in the bacon grease with a bit of milk and pepper. There was plenty for all of them.

"Wonderful breakfast," Pod said with feeling. "There's a lot of good food in a hen's egg. We took a hardboiled egg with us when we left the groundskeeper's cottage and Spiller, Arrietty, Homily and I ate on it for a couple of days."

"I can only get them if I can get at the basket when they first bring them in," Daubery admitted. "After that they get put out of reach. You're still planning on leaving right away?"

"Just got to roll up my quilt and reload the boat," Spiller answered. "We need to get back to Little Fordham by late afternoon. Homily and Arrietty will be fretting if we don't. You sure two bags each of flour and cornmeal is enough for now? Got two more of each in the boat. Was going to give Homily and Arrietty some to work with until we get everything sorted out about the move, and maybe take some down river to Burgonet and Arista." He glanced at Pod. "You ain't met them yet. They're a young couple, just married, down at Went-le-Craye."

"Didn't know anyone else was around there," Pod exclaimed.

"They're around" said Daubery. "Spiller knows most of them, I'd wager. Got a good business he does. Has to make hay while the sun shines, though. He'll have to settle down eventually."

Spiller stood up at that. "Thanks for having us. See you again at some point."

"It was nice to see you again, Spiller," said Sateen. "Come back soon."

"Yes, don't stay away too long," Hemiola said, looking Spiller right in the eyes. She was trying hard to be a dutiful daughter, but it was hard. To her, Spiller was just someone she'd grown up with. He was like one of her family. Her father wanted her to see it differently, though, and she was making an effort, but it was difficult.

He shrugged at her. "Three weeks maybe, or a month." He and Pod packed up their meager gear, and after a last round of goodbyes, headed back to the boat. There was a lovely morning dawning. "Pott has a good day to get ready to open the village," Spiller said. "We'll have to be careful when we get back. He and that Miss Menzies should be gone in by the time we get there, but you never know."

As they pushed off Pod looked back at the hollow where they'd moored. "Nice family that."

"All right," Spiller said shortly. "Was very good to me when I was younger. Good to me, now, they are, but Daubery's too set in his ways. Gets on my nerves sometimes. Don't always like the way he treats Sateen and the girls. Wish he'd get the son he wants but I can't be it."

"Ah," said Pod, understanding completely.

When they got back to Little Fordham they unloaded their gear and headed up toward the village, keeping an eye open for straggling human beings. Homily and Arrietty had finished the third blanket and put together a couple of shawls from the blue yarn while the few first humans of the season had been looking at the village. They were waiting for their men anxiously.

"Well?" Homily asked.

"It'll suit us very well," Pod answered. "Spiller has a room set up in a perfect spot that he uses when he needs a place to stay indoors and there's plenty of space for us in the same area. I think you'll like it. It's under the floor just like we're used to."

"Can we see the river from there?" Arrietty demanded, remembering her grate under the floor at Firbank Hall.

"Not from there," Spiller said, "but aren't you and I going to be nipping back here of an evening to pick up whatever the humans leave lying around?"

She looked at him, her cheeks pink, and her eyes bright. "You meant that? You'll bring me back to visit?" She gave Homily a dark look. "Mother still isn't sure if it's the right thing to do."

"Whenever you like," said Spiller, turning away from her smile, which made him feel unsettled and plunking down in front of the fire. Homily's eyes opened wide and she turned them on Pod, who merely shrugged and handed her the bag of cornmeal. "We have other things in the boat," Spiller added. "I'll bring them up later. I don't want to leave them out there all night."

Homily began to bustle about, showing them the three blankets they'd completed as Arrietty was setting out grapes and ham sandwich for all.

"This really is nice, fine yarn," Spiller said fingering a blanket, causing Homily to grit her teeth to keep from mentioning the fact that his hands probably weren't clean. "My friend Arista would like this. I'd like to take a few skeins to her and her husband to trade for other supplies."

"Go ahead," Homily said. "We've got plenty. Sorry there's nothing hot," she added, looking over at the table "but we've got chocolate biscuit for dessert." She then said sadly how she really would miss the lovely little stove and couldn't they take it with them.

"I don't think so," Pod said kindly, sitting at the table. It's fastened in there pretty well, and anyway, if we do come back for a visit we'll need it then. We'll have to think of something else for you to use at the mill."

"Until we do," Spiller said suddenly, "cold food will have to do. Nothing wrong with cold food. Can't be having any fires that you can't control." He paused slightly, and then throwing caution to the winds, added, "That's how I lost me family."

"Your family?" Arrietty spun about from where she was helping Homily warm up the leftover soup from the night before. "Do you mean your mother?" He had mentioned his mother to her a few times and she was dying to know more.

"All of 'em," said Spiller grimly.

He had, he told them in halting sentences, grown up in a hunting lodge that belonged to an old couple with two sons. They came out every spring to fish and every fall to have shooting parties, and the family would all gather at Christmas. When they were in residence the borrowings came easier, although it was a bit nerve wracking to borrow and not be seen, but Spiller's father was an expert borrower. Occasionally the sons would bring their families out at other times, but often weeks could go buy with no human inhabitants, so Spiller's father learned to borrow from the out of doors and from the time Spiller could walk, he took Spiller out of doors, too.

"Started learning to fish when I was three. Dad started teaching me to use a bow at four. That was when Mum had my sister, Larkspur. Dad needed help so he said but think he just wanted me out of the house so Mum could have some peace and quiet," he told them. When I was six my sister Caledula was born. Started helping my dad skin game then. Had a little tunnel down by the river to do that. Was nine and learning how to handle a boat when Mum had Orlaya."

When Homily gasped, and cried, "Oh, my!" he smiled ruefully, the corners of his mouth turned up into the teasing smile they all knew so well.

"Mum liked flowers and named the girls after them. What can I say?" He paused for a moment, thinking. "When I was eleven Mum was having another baby. If it was a boy, she was going to name it Basil and if it were another girl, she was going to name it Angelonia. I think me Dad was hoping for another boy but he never told her that. He wasn't like some," Spiller said, giving Pod a meaningful look. "He said as long as it was healthy he would be fine with it whatever it was."

That's as it should be," Pod interjected, slapping his hand on the table. "You get what you get when it comes to that." He also had been saddened by the way Daubery treated his daughters.

Spiller nodded ruefully, and then frowned trying to remember. "Was spring. The whole human family was there. Dad wanted me to go out at dusk and bring back some vegetables. Was usually safe enough then when the humans were there for fishing parties. They got up early to go fishing so went to bed early. The radishes and scallions were especially good that year. Dad said it would be a treat for Mum to have some fresh food. He couldn't go. He was busy keeping the little ones quiet. It was hard for them to be quiet when the family was about. He used to tell them stories for hours. Left him there with the girls. Mum was trying to do some cooking even though she didn't feel well. She said her back'd been hurting her. Me and dad thought the baby was getting ready to come. He kept scolding her, telling to keep her skirts away from the fire."

Pod, Homily and Arrietty thought about this, a little boy going out to provide for his family, and understood better how resourceful he must have been even at such an early age.

"When I crept out could hear some of the human men in the kitchen. They'd sneaked down for some ale and a smoke. I could smell their pipes. I was glad to get outside. T'was one of the finest nights I'd ever seen. Looked at the stars and the moon and felt happier than I'd ever felt. Finally went back to the garden and began to look at the radish plants. I knew how to pick the best."

Spiller closed his eyes and they all waited with baited breath for the rest of the story. "When I had all I could carry I started back through the garden rows. As I got close to the house I thought I heard an odd noise, a popping noise, but didn't think much of it. When I got nearer though, it got louder. I seen and smelled the smoke then."

"Oh, no, Arrietty whispered, "oh, no, no."

Spiller looked at her, his black eyes catching the light from the cookstove. "I don't know if the fellows in the kitchen started it with their pipes or poking at the kitchen fire. They had been drinking pretty hard. Maybe one of the girls dropped a dip or maybe one of the other kids grabbed ahold of me dad and pulled him off balance. Mum could even have caught her skirt for real. She was as big as a house at that point. Anyway, the house was afire and I heard someone ringing the bell by the kitchen door. Servants came running. There was a lot of yelling and the smoke was fierce. I coughed and coughed. I had to back away, clear to the rear edge of the garden. The fire caused shadows that gathered all around the house. It sounded just like whenever a big beastie crawled through the undergrowth at Dad's hole in the woods by the river where he skinned the game. All I could see was smoke black enough to suffocate a body, and sullen yellow flames spreading up to the roof."

They all sat spellbound, horrified at the mental picture of a little black eyed boy hiding in a garden in the night watching his home burn.

"Had to get away from the heat and humans rushing about, so I went to Dad's camp. I knew that's where he would go if he could. I fell asleep in the tunnel smelling like a wood stove."

Spiller paused, sighed, and shook his head. "When I woke up I got some water. My throat hurt from the smoke. Then I crept back to the house to see what was left. Some of the humans were out on the front lawn talking to each other. I don't know how many got out and how many didn't."

He paused again, thinking. "I couldn't get into where our place used to be. I tried, but it was pretty much gone. I hung around for a few days, hoping Dad or Mum or one of the girls would turn up but never seen any of them. Finally gave up and lit out, just jumped in me dad's boat and headed down river. I found a family living near Holmcraft, the ones Pod and I went to see after we left the mill. Daubery and his wife, Sateen took me in for a few days but they had three daughters at the time that reminded me too much of the girls for me to be easy in my mind there. I liked them. Still do, but I wanted to be alone. So I set off along the river staying wherever I liked as long as I liked. Caught minnows, hunted game, and gave some to Sateen. She took care of me when I needed it. Lived like that a couple of years."

He perked up and smiled then. "I had just found that old stove and got settled into it when I ran across Hendreary and his family living in the badger's set. We got to be friends. By then I had a regular route and they used to ask me to pick up things for them, like tea and matches and other things they couldn't get for themselves. Then the foxes came."

He wrinkled his nose as if he could smell them. "I found them Hendrearys running away. They only just made it. They come to the gypsies camp hoping the foxes would still smell the human scent and wouldn't follow them any further. They wanted to see, too, if there was anything worth picking over at the campsite. I showed them my stove, offered them a bite to eat. They stayed two years. It was nice at first to have the boys to talk to. Halberd was a lot of fun and Timmis was a nice little boy. He made me wonder what it would have been like if I'd finally had a little brother, but it all got to be too much."

"Lupy certainly tends to have that effect on people," Homily said.

"Now, Homily, don't start that again!" Pod exclaimed.

Spiller grinned, and then shrugged. "I dunno. I started watching young Tom and then we talked. I checked out the gamekeeper's cottage, and finally got Lupy and Hendreary to move there. She was afraid of young Tom. T'was that pillowcase full of food and furniture that finally convinced them. In the end Lupy wanted a real home again so she'd have a place to use it. I helped them move, taking a bit at a time. They finally got settled in."

There was silence for a moment, and then Homily walked up behind Spiller and threw her arms around him in a huge hug that startled him and set his cheeks to blazing. "You poor dear boy," Homily said. "What you've been through! I've never heard the like of it!"

Pod gave her an odd look, which Arrietty understood. Homily was like that about Spiller. As a prospective son-in-law, she was skeptical, but when she looked at him as just a lost boy she could be very sweet.

Arrietty took him a nice big piece of chocolate biscuit. She'd never heard Spiller talk so much and sensed it was for her. She wanted to hug him, kiss him, and cry for him, but just as the feeling was about to overcome her he and Pod left to bring back the rest of the things from the boat. She just knew he'd wanted her to know who and what he was, and she was glad of it. She thought she understood him so much better after hearing his story. That had to be a good thing.

It seemed to her that you ought to get to know the person you were going to marry, and she was more sure than ever she wanted to marry him but her parents would have to get more used to the idea, and as Homily had said, Arrietty would have to tie him down a bit. Arrietty wasn't sure if he was ready to be tied down, and even if he was, how in the world she was going to do it. She didn't want to change him. She liked him exactly as he was, but she had a nagging suspicion that marriage was the exact sort of thing that changed everyone. She'd have to give it some thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

River Journey

They had a late breakfast the next morning with Spiller's tea. There was only enough left for a few more cups and that worried Homily. She had made some of the cornmeal into a sort of mush with butter that reminded her of a story that Lupy's cousin Oggin used to tell about the Indians in America and the English settlers who went to live there.

Pod had fussed a bit about them having the fire lit, sure that the humans would see the smoke and know that the borrowers were still in residence which would lead to trouble, but Spiller assured them that when he had gone to check on his boat the night before he had also stopped by Mr. Pott's house. He was quite sure that Mr. Pott was supposed to meet Miss Menzies at the blacksmith shop that morning, to discuss something that they wanted Henry the blacksmith to help them build for Little Fordham.

"Oh, I wonder what they are up to now," Homily cried, but Pod cut her off short.

"It's nothing to do with us," Pod said sharply. "We're not staying."

Arrietty let out a small sound then, almost like a sob but not quite, and Spiller looked up from the table with a frown. He knew how she was dreading the move to the mill. "I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out, and we'll come back and see it eventually," he assured her, and she gave him a dazzling, grateful smile.

"I'm thinking," Pod said, "that we might be able to leave tomorrow." He was beginning to feel uneasy about the way Spiller looked at Arrietty and the way she looked at him. He knew how things stood, and he was trying to be practical about it, but that didn't mean he liked it, and he couldn't depend on Homily to explain much to Arrietty. She was a good woman but tended to get flustered and when she did she just saw what she wanted to see. The sooner they got to the mill and back under a good floor, the better chance they all had of getting life back to the way it used to be. Pod hadn't realized yet that life doesn't run backwards. But Spiller spoiled that notion for him pretty quickly by shaking his head.

"Thought about it," he told Pod, "and we need all the room for cargo that we can get. Think I'll take the extra flour and cornmeal down to my friend Burgonet's place tonight once the moon rises. He and Arista are probably needing it and once it's out of the boat, we'll have more room for other things. You don't need it at the mill. You can get more anytime but they can't and you need more tea. I get usually that from them. They live in the wall of a rectory and the vicar can't live without his tea. Keeps the kitchen full of it all the time. I can give them the yarn at the same time. They'll probably have other things you can use at the mill as well." Spiller saw Homily perk up at the mention of more tea and knew he was going to win. He just didn't know yet by how much.

Pod sighed. "I suppose one more day won't hurt anything. I do want to mend our shoes and then I can help Arrietty and Homily wind the rest of the yarn so we have some in skeins to take with us."

"What about new shoes?" Spiller said. "Got a nice brown leather change purse in the storeroom. Leather's like butter, it is. I'll go get it now, and you can take a look."

When Pod saw the purse he was impressed by the leather and Homily was ecstatic over the coins. She hadn't known what she would have for plates at the new place, dead set as Pod was against taking anything out of Little Fordham.

"This would make good shoes, most comfortable things I've probably ever made," said Pod, "but it would take a few days at least. How long would you be gone, Spiller?"

"Couple of days, maybe," he said cagily."Depends on the weather, if it stays clear."

"I could make socks while you're gone to go with the new boots!" She glared at Arrietty. "Pity you're such a clumsy knitter," Homily told her daughter.

"Why don't you come along with me instead, Arrietty?" Spiller said casually. "You'd like Burgonet and Arista. They're only a couple of years older than I am. They'd like meeting someone new."

"Oh, I don't know," Pod started to say, but Homily interrupted.

"Let her go, Pod. She's been droopy and as cross as two old sticks. Let her get this hankering for meeting other ones and being outdoors out of her system. There will be time enough at the mill for her to brush up on knitting and sewing and all of those household things."

Arrietty clapped her hands and spun around, she was so happy. "Oh, could I go? I'd love to do that!"

Pod knew he was beaten. "If Spiller promises to be very careful," he said. "I want you back here the same as you left. Nothing dangerous, you hear me?" He glared at Spiller. "She comes back with one bruise on her and that's the end of boating excursions for her."

"I'll never do nothing that would hurt her," Spiller answered, his black eyes flashing. "Should know that by now."

"Of course we do, Spiller, dear," said Homily, still admiring her new plates. "You've saved our lives so many times, through storms and drains and gypsies and what all. Go pack a bag, Arrietty. You can use one of those burlap borrowing bags that Spiller brought up from his boat, but make sure your father measures your feet before you go. We want the new shoes to fit."

She looked over at Spiller. "Are you going to have fur boots again for winter? Pod could make you a leather pair for fall if you like. Just the thing for when it gets nippy, but before the snow flies."

"Could do," Pod said slowly. "Could do."

Spiller nodded thoughtfully. "Might be good to have at that. Seems far away it does, but autumn will come eventually. That in between in the middle when it's not summer but not winter is sometimes hard."

Pod had Spiller and Arrietty stand on pieces of the torn lunch bag, and traced around their feet with the scrap of pencil lead Arrietty had brought from the cottage. Then he did Homily, and had Homily do him. With the tracings, he would be able to judge the size of the boots. He and Spiller took the coin purse apart while Homily and Arrietty wound some more yarn.

"Wish we could think of something to do with the clasp," Pod said with a sigh. "Should be good for something, but I can't think what, and I wish I had brown thread."

"Miss Menzies probably does. Fancy taking a run over to the cottage while they're out?" Spiller said. "I think I know where it is."

"Could do," Pod said thoughtfully, causing Arrietty to laugh at the way he and Spiller both did that.

So he and Spiller slipped out the back door of the cottage, and keeping a careful eye out, went out borrowing together. After they slipped out of the cottage Spiller led the way to the house. He knew of a way in, through the workshop next to the garden. Mr. Pott's workshop was attached to the kitchen, having been used as a scullery at one point, for washing clothes. You didn't have to go into the kitchen through the main door. You could also get into the kitchen from the side through the old scullery and this is what Spiller and Pod did.

The basket of sewing supplies was still on the floor in the corner by the wall just where Miss Menzies had left it. She must have been, though Spiller, too distracted by him to put it away and when she'd gone home Mr. Pott must have not paid any attention.

"Baskets like that, woven ones, are easy," Pod said. "Just step on each strip carefully. You want me to go up?"

"I can do it," Spiller said, and began to climb. When he got to the top, he saw brown thread inside sitting next to a spool of black."It's here," he told Pod, and dropped down in. He landed on some rolled up quilting material, which cushioned his fall nicely. "Watch out!" By moving the spool of black thread on top of the quilting material, he was able to climb on top of the black with the brown in his arms and hoist it over the side. He heard it hit the floor.

"Got it," said Pod. Spiller then climbed up the inside of the basket, and swung himself over the top. When he dropped down beside Pod, Pod was standing next to the spool of thread, looking around the room. "Wish we had time for a proper look around," he sighed, "but best not, if we don't know when they'll be back." He looked longingly at the kitchen table. "Wish I had me hat pin."

"Best not to," Spiller agreed, and with a last look around, they headed back out to the workshop. They managed to get the brown thread to the cottage, where Arrietty and Homily were just slicing up the last of the sandwich into pieces for their dinner.

"There's still half a chocolate biscuit left for dessert," Homily pointed out.

"What should I pack?" Arrietty asked Spiller. She was almost too excited to eat.

He shrugged. "Change of clothes should do it, just in case."

After the meal, Arrietty packed her bag. Spiller was looking out the window when she came back down. She was still glowing with excitement. He looked at her and suppressed a smile, forcing his voice to be stern.

"If you're going with me on the river at night, got to listen. Can't be doing things you oughtn't. Got to do what I ask you to do. Promise?"

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Arrietty gave him a little salute.

"He's right," Homily told Arrietty, putting one of the blue shawls around her shoulders. She looked over at Spiller. "Does she need a blanket?"

"Don't think," he answered. "I'm taking my quilt in the boat, and I can roll up in that anywhere. There's a guest room at Burgonet's place with plenty blankets where Arrietty can sleep. I've stayed there before."

"I can't wait to meet them," Arrietty exclaimed.

"They're nice," Spiller said. "Ready to go?" Arrietty was, and taking up the skeins of fine blue yarn to use as trade goods, they did.

The prospect of a cobbling job had made Pod more genial, and he was certainly grateful to Spiller for the wonderful brown leather and thread, but once he and Homily got up to their bedroom, he tried one more time. "Are you sure Arrietty should have gone off overnight with Spiller?"

As Homily rolled her hair up on rag curlers she looked over at him. "Why not? We'll be too busy to just sit around missing her. I think she'll be safe, and it will be a nice thing for her to look back on and remember, when we're back under the floor."

"They're not children anymore," Pod warned.

"They're not grown up, either," Homily countered. "They do have a lot of ideas on what they think being grown up means, but it's not all boating on the river. Let them see that. Let them see how they get along without us around and how another young couple manages. Besides, if Spiller's friends have tea…"

"You care more about tea than our Arrietty?" Pod exclaimed.

"Of course not," Homily said, exasperated, climbing into bed. She did so love the eiderdown Miss Menzies had made for her. "But the boy said she'd be safe and he knows what he's doing. He's not going to kidnap her, Pod, just take her on a visit. They're going to be with other people after all."

"Not on the boat, they're not," Pod pointed out.

"What can they do on a boat?" Homily asked crossly.

"I don't like to say." Pod grunted and rolled over, his back to Homily.

"Oh, nonsense," she said, as she settled back down on her pillow and looked around the room at the little wooden dresser, and the crisp curtains hanging at the window. "They did do a good job fixing this house up," she said wistfully. Pod didn't answer.

Spiller and Arrietty slipped through the fence and headed down to the river. When they reached the boat, Arrietty took off her shoes, finding it easier to walk on the boat in bare feet. They got the bags of flour and cornmeal that he was taking with them to trade under the boat's canopy, and then he and Arrietty laid the skeins of yard in carefully along each side.

"Better take this," he said, offering her his quilt, as he got ready to pick up his paddle. "Gets a bit nippy on the river at night."

"What about you?" Arrietty asked.

"I'm used to it. You're not. I'm going to be paddling all night anyway, and that keeps me warm. You can sleep under the canopy if you want. Just lean up against them flour sacks."

"Spiller, what would happen if a human saw the boat on the water?"

He looked at her. "They have. Seem to not think much of it. Probably think we're some child's toy, gone astray. Don't be afraid."

"I'm not," she answered. "Not when I'm on an adventure with you." Then she shocked him out of his senses by giving him a quick kiss before ducking under the canopy. He watched her settle in, and could see her bright eyes then, watching him.

"All right, then," Spiller said with a grin, and taking up the silver knife he used as a paddle, he untied the boat and pushed off.

She peeped out at him occasionally as he stood in the front of the boat, but the rocking water did put finally put Arrietty to sleep. When she woke up the light was pale and hazy, predawn.

"Where are we?" she asked, sitting up.

Spiller glanced back. He looked tired. "Nearly there. We'll be tying up right there next to that pile of logs."

"The sunrise is so beautiful. What's up beyond that bend further down the river?" Arrietty asked.

"More river," Spiller said grining.

"Will your friends be up this early?"

"Probably not," Spiller acknowledged, "but if we can get into the wall we can have a nap until it's time for breakfast. It's what I usually do. They keep a bed for me in the passage way." He maneuvered the boat in along the shore and hid it under some long grasses that were hanging over the water's edge. Helping her out, he asked, "If I carry the sacks and the yarn can you manage your bag and my quilt?"

"Yes, and you don't have to carry the skeins. They're not heavy, just a bit awkward." Arrietty slipped her shoes and stockings back on, wrapped a couple of the skeins around the rolled up quilt, and swung them up onto her shoulder. Picking up her bag with the other hand, she followed him.

When they got into the house through a small hole she found herself in a dark passage. "Wait a minute," Spiller whispered, and she heard him set down the heavy bags and fumble with something. A match flared and a candle was lit, which illuminated the hallway. Arrietty saw then that there was a shelf on the wall just inside the passageway. That's where the box of matches and candle stubs were.

"We go here," Spiller said softly.

Halfway down the passageway there was a opening that led to a small room. The room had a bed in it made from a small box stuffed with what must have been fleece, and covered with a sheet made of some kind of small print material. On top of the sheet were a couple of folded up blankets, which were a green and navy plaid knitted material. Arrietty guessed that they had been made from a borrowed scarf. A matchbox chest of drawers stood against the wall, where Spiller set the candle stub, and there was a small rag rug on the floor.

"This is the guest room," Spiller said. "Not too bad now but it does get a bit chilly in the winter. Arista and Burgonet live farther down the passage. There's a wire gate. You'd best get to bed. I'll sleep on the rug wrapped up in my quilt." He unrolled it and spread it out.

"Oh, Spiller, that's not fair," Arrietty whispered. "Let me sleep on the floor."

"I'm used to sleeping on the floor, remember?" Spiller answered, "and I'm so done in I think I could sleep on rock. Go on to bed. It's a good bed. I'm just going to go get the bags and bring them away from the entrance down to the gate. Don't want to attract mice with that grain. I'll put them over onto the other side and then blow out the candle when I settle down. Arista or Burgonet will see them in the morning and know we're here."

So that is what they did. When Spiller came back Arrietty was climbing into the snug little bed. She'd left her shoes and stockings on the floor next to the chest of drawers, set her pinafore and dress on top of it and was climbing into the bed in her vest and petticoat.

Spiller grinned, thanking his lucky stars she hadn't tried to change into a nightdress. If he'd walked in and seen her undressed, she probably would have been furious, no matter how much she liked him. Stretching and yawning, he blew out the candle and lay down.

"Good night, Spiller," said Arrietty.

"Good night, Ari," said Spiller.

"Ari?" she puzzled this out. "I've never had a nickname before."

"It suits you," Spiller said with a yawn, and then he rolled over in the quilt and was out like a light.

Poor Spiller, thought Arrietty. All that paddling while I was asleep, but then she fell back asleep, too. When she woke up, she didn't know where she was. She sat up, and saw the lump that was Spiller rolled up in his quilt, still on the rag rug. She sat up, then slid her feet off the bed and found her shoes and stockings. Putting them on, she stood up pulled her dress and put on her pinafore.

She tried to smooth out her hair and wondered where she would be able to go wash up. She tiptoed across the floor. Spiller must be really tired, she thought. The slightest sound usually wakes him. She thought she heard a small noise in the hallway, and peeked out. Someone was down by the gate. She walked hesitantly down the hallway until she could see, in the dim light, a young woman examining the flour and cornmeal bags. She had light colored hair and was wearing a light colored dress. When Arrietty stepped on one slightly loose board, the woman heard her.

"Spiller?" She stood staring, trying to see into the dark hall.

"No," Arrietty said. "I'm a friend of Spiller's. He's still sleeping." She walked up to the woman, who stood transfixed.

"Oh, my, you must be Arrietty!"

Arrietty was confused. "Yes, do I know you?"

The woman shook her head, as she opened the gate. "No, but Spiller's talked about you. I've wanted to meet you for a long time. I thought that he'd lost you. He was miserable over you for months and months. Thank goodness he found you again! Come on in, and let's get you comfortable. Spiller certainly doesn't know much about creature comforts. You're awfully brave to take him on as a beau, although he's certainly kindhearted enough and probably the best provider you could ever wish for."

Arrietty was startled that Spiller had told these people she was his girlfriend, but then she felt a wave of affection for him, for missing her and worrying about her so while she was in the attic. She stepped behind the gate, which was made out of a piece of wire fencing, by the looks of it, and then looked back. "Maybe I should wake him. When he wakes up won't he wonder where I am?"

"He'll know where you've gone. I'll leave the gate unlatched for him. Besides, where else could you go? My name is Arista, by the way." She looked Arrietty up and down. "Why, you're as sweet as can be. I thought you'd be more of a tomboy, judging by the stories Spiller has told us about your adventures."

"He told me that you're married to a friend of his?" Arrietty asked tentatively, as Arista took her arm and led her down the hall.

"I'll get Burgonet to come get these sacks in a moment," Arista said, "after breakfast. We'll have an omelet. I have an egg, and some ham, and some onion and peppers. I wasn't going to scramble a whole egg, but if you and Spiller are here, it won't go to waste. That boy can certainly eat."

They went into a kitchen that was warm and cozy. It reminded Arrietty of under the floor at Firbank. There was a good sized kitchen table, with spools for seats. Arista had made cushions for them, and smiled happily when Arietty complimented her on them. She showed Arrietty where she could wash up, and asked her if she needed a hairbrush.

"The Vicar gets a new toothbrush every three months," Arista said. "When he throws the old one away, Burgonet borrows them and cuts them down. I wash them good and then we make hair brushes and scrub brushes out of them. It's perfectly safe, I assure you. The clean ones are in that little basket in the bathroom, next to the tap. Take one. You can keep it and take it with you when you go."

Arrietty did, and looked much more presentable when she came back out. A tall, thin, nice looking young man with light brown, curly hair and blue eyes was standing next to the kitchen table wearing a white shirt and navy blue trousers, with suspenders made from an elastic band.

"So this is Arrietty," he said, taking her by the hands. "You're just as pretty as Spiller said you were. I thought those bags of grain were a treat, until I saw you."

Arrietty blushed. "I didn't know he had told anyone I was pretty!"

"But of course he has," Arista exclaimed, "except perhaps old Daubery. Daubery is still hoping to settle one of his daughters on Spiller, but none of them had a chance once he met you. He talks about you all the time, but I thought you were gone away for good. I didn't know what we were going to do with him for awhile. He missed you so much. Now come sit down, and I'll fix us a mess of eggs. Burgonet, give the poor girl some tea. She's had a long weary journey no doubt."

The young man poured the tea, and Arrietty picked up an acorn cup gratefully, and then looked stricken. "Don't you need any help with the cooking?"

"Oh, no," Arista said. "Leave me to it, but do tell us all about where you went and how you managed to get back together with Spiller, not that it would have been very hard to convince him to get back with you."

Sipping the fragrant tea, Arrietty told the tale of how her family had been kidnapped from Little Fordham, how they had escaped, and how her father was planning on moving to the mill. The nice young couple seemed really interested and it was easy for Arrietty to see why Spiller was so fond of them. They were probably in their early twenties, she guessed, and seemed to be quite proper house borrowers. She was just finishing up her story when Spiller stepped into the kitchen, with the yarn draped over his shoulder.

"Ah," he said, "I thought I'd find you here."

"Where else would you find her? "She certainly didn't sneak out and go back to that attic," Arista said. "Come sit down. We're having omelets."

"You told them about that?" Spiller asked, eying Arrietty.

"She told it very well," Burgonet said. "Terrible thing that. Bet you're glad that's over. What have you got there?" he added, deftly changing the subject to Spiller's relief.

"Ari's mother sent along some yarn. Wants to trade you for tea." Spiller held it out and shook it slightly.

Wiping her hands on her apron, Arista came over to see. "Oh, this is lovely. I can make some beautiful things with this. Put it over by my sewing basket for now, next to the chair. Arrietty's mother wants the tea, eh? I wondered what you were doing with so much tea last year. You never drank so much of it yourself. I can give you two or three twists of it. We've got plenty. Now sit down and eat. Burgonet, help me, please."

"Be right back," said Spiller, and wandered off to the bathroom.

Arista and Burgonet went to the stove, and came back with a dish of eggs so big it took both of them to carry it. They set it in the middle of the table. It smelled heavenly and Arrietty's mouth began to water. Spiller came back and sat down, and it looked like he had clean hands for once. Apparently he followed propriety a bit better around Arista, just as he was starting to do for Homily. He passed up a silver thimble with a horse design on it for a acorn cup. "That's too nice for the likes of me," he said, thinking of his mother's rose thimble once again.

They had a wonderful breakfast with a lot of lively conversation. Arrietty liked this young couple very much. They were happy, cheerful people, who lived comfortably as house borrowers, just as her parents had under the floor at Firbank. She had a feeling that her father would have liked them, too. When the meal was over, Arrietty convinced Arista that she simply must help with the dishes, and Burgonet and Spiller decided to do a bit of borrowing.

"The Vicar's doing a funeral at the church this morning. He should have left for the church by now, and his housekeeper was going to the funeral, too," Burgonet said. "We'll have the way clear. Old Man Brecher died. He's the human who ran the pub. Everyone in town will be there, and they'll all go to the pub to drink his memory after the cemetery."

'"Even the Vicar?" Arrietty asked, puzzled.

"Oh, surely," Arista answered. "He likes a sherry now and then, certainly. Go up to the kitchen, you two, and see if you can get a few potatoes. I already have a carrot, and there's plenty of onion left. I'll make stew for supper."

When the men were on their way up to the kitchen, which was accessed through a mouse hole under the stove that reminded Arrietty of Firbank, Burgonet gave Spiller a friendly knock on the shoulder. "She's lovely, mate. You did the right thing waiting for that one. Bit younger than I thought, though."

"Aye, she's got a bit more growing up to do. Spoke to her father and he wants me to wait, and really, I want to wait. Just not ready yet," said Spiller, "but glad to have her back, I am. Got plenty time to see if she can get used to the way I live. Think she can."

Burgonet shook his head. "Things will have to change a bit, Spiller. Got to have a proper home once you settle down. You've got some nice spots, don't get me wrong, but you need to arrange the choicer ones a bit better if you're going to be having a family. We've already started planning our nursery and it does take a bit of planning."

Spiller eyed his friend, startled. "Trying to tell me something, are you?"

Burgonet laughed. "Not yet, but it's not for lack of trying!" And then they both laughed. Most of what Spiller had learned about what transpired, or was supposed to transpire between the sexes, he had learned from Burgonet, who'd had a father long enough to get the man to man talk most fellows got eventually from their dads.

Spiller sobered up quickly though at the idea of having a family of his own. "Not a chance for me at this point of that anyway. Don't have the patience yet for a wee one. My mother almost lost her mind with the lot of us, and she was the most patient person I ever knew, outside of me dad. Besides, that's a hard thing to go through and Arrietty's too young."

Arista washed the dishes and Arrietty dried. When Arrietty complimented Arista on her home, she snorted. "Took a lot of doing, this did. You should have seen it when I got here. Typical bachelor's home it was, although it had possibilities. Burgonet weren't nearly as tidy then as he is now and Spiller used to hang about a lot back then. They were right good mates."

"Spiller needs friends," said Arrietty. "My Aunt Lupy said he was solitary, and he is, but I think at times he got lonely, too."

"Everyone needs friends," Arista agreed. "I hope we can be. I hope Spiller brings you back again."

"I'd love to come if you'd have me," Arrietty said honestly.

Arista then offered to show Arrietty her storeroom, which was impressive, and then the rest of the house. The bedroom was quite cozy and there was another room next to it, that Arista said she was planning on using for a nursery since it was the farthest from the human bedrooms. She had already started thinking about what they would need, and what they could adapt for a baby bed and baby toys.

"I have Spiller on the lookout for some nice flannel that I can sew into diapers. We'd like to have several children. We were both only children and it was hard sometimes," said Arista, "but it's also hard when they're small and cry. You have to be careful that the humans don't hear. The baby will have to sleep with us at first, so we have to find a nice little basket or something we can keep next to our bed for the first couple of months."

"I suppose you do," said Arrietty. "I didn't like being an only child either. After my cousins had to emigrate, I never saw anyone else. I haven't really thought about it but I think I'd like to have lots of children, too, but not now. I haven't any idea what it's like to have one, and Spiller's not ready for that, either."

"Spiller grew up in a big family," Arista said, "and I think he'd like to have a big one again, but you do have lots of time to discuss it. You are thinking you'll marry him, don't you?" she asked, as they headed back to the main room.

"I told my parents that I wanted to, and he told my father he wanted to, but I'm just going to be seventeen in June. My father thinks I'm too young. Mother let me come here today probably hoping I'll change my mind. She doesn't like the outdoors you see, and with Spiller, you've got to. I do like the outdoors, and I think Spiller and I would get along fine eventually, but it might take awhile."

"Can't be outdoors all the time when you have a family of your own, though. Outdoors isn't really healthy for children," Arista warned.

"I know. My father talked to me about that, too," Arrietty sighed, as they both plopped down on chairs and thought about what it might be like to have a child. The very idea scared Arrietty silly and she was very relieved when Arista began to show her the sewing projects she was working on. Arrietty told her that Pod was a cobbler, and Arista got all excited.

"Burgonet and I both need new shoes. Could he make us some?" she asked, but then sighed. "Don't know how we could get them fitted, though."

Arrietty explained to her about how they could trace their feet, and take the tracings back to Pod, and Arista scrounged around for some paper that she thought would be big enough to do the tracings. Arrietty started on Arista right then and there. When Spiller and Burgonet came back, they laughed when they saw Arrietty tracing Arista's stockinged foot, but when Arrietty explained, Burgonet was delighted.

"We haven't had a cobbler around in years. Are you sure your father won't mind doing it?"

"Not Pod," Spiller said, pleased with the idea of Pod having enough shoes to do that it might put off the move to the mill for awhile. He and Arrietty could spend a lot more time together in Little Fordham than they would be able to do at the mill.

Arista stepped off the paper, and said, "Here, give me the borrowings. I can put them away while Arrietty measures your feet, Burgonet."

"I'll help," Spiller said. "These potatoes are heavy, and we got some bacon, a nice scrap of beef, and more tea, salt and pepper, and some cheese."

"Roll the potatoes into the storeroom first," Arista directed, and Spiller followed her as Arrietty measured Burgonet's feet. "I can make a lovely beef stew for dinner. Will you and Arrietty be staying with us another night?"

"Could do," Spiller answered. "Didn't say exactly when we would come home. If we stay tonight though, we have to stay tomorrow. I want to travel by moonlight."

"We'd love to have you," Arista assured him. "It will be like having a party. We haven't had proper company for ever so long."

After Arrietty rolled up the paper carefully to take to Pod, she helped Arista with the stew, and they mixed up some biscuits and a cake. Spiller and Burgonet sat around and talked about when the strawberries would be ripe, and whether or not there would be a lot of spring rains that would make the river too difficult for Spiller to navigate. Spiller expected the gypsies to start appearing in Perkin's Beck soon, but he didn't expect to spend too much time in his stove that season.

"Got to help Ari's people get settled in at the mill, and want to check back at Little Fordham regular like when the humans are going through the village and looking at the trains. Leave all sorts of good stuff behind they do."

Arrietty came out of the kitchen then, her face pink from the heat of the stove, and said, "Little Fordham is wonderful. We have the nicest house there. If only Papa wasn't so worried about being seen."

"You can't blame him, though," Spiller admitted, "after what happened last fall. When that attic lot finds you missing, they're sure to think the first lot stole you back. I'm glad Pott's got the fence up now, and is watching the back the way he is, but it's still tricky."

"I suppose so, Arrietty sighed, "but I do so love our little cottage."

Arista appeared and said that everything was cooking nicely. "I need a rest, I do."

"The cake is going to be ever so wonderful," Arrietty exclaimed. "I wish you could write down the recipe for me."

"I don't write," Arista admitted. "I've just done it so many times I know it by heart. My mother used to make it whenever we had enough butter, sugar and flour. She started teaching me to bake when I was just a tot. We lived clear on the other side of Bedfordshire, in a nice house, but we were the only ones left. Ma died first, and I took care of Pa until he died and then I decided to set out on my own. I had heard Little Fordham was nice, and I just packed a bag and started walking. I walked at dawn and at dusk and slept in between. I was following the river, you see, and when I got outside the village here, Burgonet saw me."

"She was a plucky little thing, to be sure," Burgonet said, chuckling. "I asked her in for a bite and she never left. One day the Vicar was getting ready to have a wedding in the study of the vicarage, a very quiet wedding, and I told her we should just go upstairs where we could listen, and repeat the vows."

"Is that how it's done?" Arrietty exclaimed. "I'm sure my parents were never near a rectory!"

"If you have parents that can be present," Arista explained, "you usually make your vows before them and they give the bride to the groom. That's the borrower way, but neither of us had any parents left, so we thought that would be just as good. Mind you, I was so surprised when he asked me!"

"Don't see why," said Burgonet, laughing. "You knew by then I didn't want you to go and I was pretty sure you didn't want to go, either. That cake of yours was one of the things that helped me decide!"

"Oh, get on," Arista said, getting up in a huff. "I'll be going to take it out, not that I shouldn't let it burn to get even with you for saying such a thing!"

"I'll help you put in the biscuits now," Arrietty said, also rising.

They had a lovely dinner. Arrietty helped Arista with the dishes, while Spiller and Burgonet had a cup of the Vicar's sherry, and after the dishes were done they all talked for a long time. Finally hardly any light was coming through the cracks in the ceiling, so Arista lit a dip, and told Arrietty and Spiller they might want to think about cleaning up and going to bed.

Burgonet and Spiller stood up and stretched. "I'll walk down to the river," said Spiller, "to check my moorings. Got to make sure the boat is in trim. Want to walk along, Burg?"

"If you do," Arista said, "I wouldn't say no to a bit of wild garlic. I could roast the rest of the beef with it tomorrow afternoon, and we could have that before you go."

When Spiller and Burgonet came back, Arrietty was in the little guest bedroom on the hallway, brushing out her long brown hair with the brush that Arista had given her. She looked quite lovely, and Spiller couldn't help leaning in for a quick kiss.

"Having a good time?"

"Oh, yes," Arrietty said, her eyes shining. "Thank you so much for bringing me. I like them very much."

"Thought you would," said Spiller, and then sighed as she climbed into the little bed.

He rolled up in his quilt but he was still awake thinking things over long after her breathing had become deep and even. The trip had given him an idea of what it would be like to be with Arrietty all the time. He had to admit she was adaptable and likeable. Arista and Burgonet seemed to be able to see exactly what it as that had made Arrietty special to him. He certainly still liked her every bit as much, but the traveling part of the trip was the best part. He hoped to be able to keep traveling for a long time. There was plenty of time in the future to settle down and get poky.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The next morning they had bacon and scrambled egg for breakfast. Spiller and Burgonet rearranged the storerooms for Arista and packed up the tea, a small onion, a small jar full of jelly and some baking powder that they were sending back to Little Fordham with Arrietty for her parents.

"What kind of jelly is this?" Arrietty asked. It was an amber color and something that she had never seen before.

"Maple syrup jelly," Burgonet told her. "Arista's own make. It was worth marrying her just for that."

"Oh, get on with you," Arista told him. She looked at Arrietty and smiled, though. "It is very good jelly, though. Spiller taps the trees for me in the spring and brings me the sap. I boil it down to syrup and make the jelly."

Arrietty and Arista baked some bread together, and while it was rising, Arrietty helped Arista hem a dress she was making. It was much easier for Arista to stand on a bottle cap while Arrietty went around and marked the hem.

"Burgonet never gets it even," Arista told Arrietty. "He just doesn't have the knack for working with material."

"I heard that," Burgonet called. "If you wanted a tailor you should have kept walking until you found one."

"I was too tired by then," Arista called back, and they all laughed. After dinner, which included some of the bread with some of the jelly, which was just as good as Burgonet had said it was, it was getting toward dusk. Spiller and Burgonet slipped out of the house and took everything down to the river and loaded Spiller's boat. Spiller didn't like the look of the sky. It looked like it might rain, and he didn't like to travel down the river in a heavy rain. He hoped it would just be a light sprinkle, if it did come down, but he didn't think so by the looks of it. He mentioned it to Burgonet, who looked up at the sky and shrugged.

"If you have to pull in somewhere, just do. And if the boat gets wet be careful, especially getting in and out. Never step all the way out until you're tied up good and proper on both ends," Burgonet warned his friend as they set the cargo under the canopy, stacking the more perishable things higher than the things that could survive a bit of water. Spiller had a piece of thin wood under there, which sat on top of the cutlery compartments, to keep the cargo under the canopy out of any water that might come into the boat, but that wouldn't withstand a strong rain, which Burgonet knew as well as he did. "You take too many chances when you're tired. You have to watch out for yourself and Arrietty, too, now."

Spiller frowned. "Am not taking any chances, and don't want Arrietty to get hurt. You sound like her father now, or like we're already married. We're not, and not likely to be anytime soon. She's not even seventeen until June. She should at least be old enough to put her hair up and her skirts down and stop wearing pinafores before she gets married!"

Burgonet blushed a bit. "Sorry, mate, but I like her. Arista likes her, and we like you both together. Bring her by again sometime, no matter what."

"I'll think about it," Spiller said with a sigh, "if you'll quit taking things so seriously at least for awhile."

"You're serious about her and don't tell me you're not," Burgonet said with a snort. "You looked half dead while she was in that attic, and if you're bringing her out on the river with you, you must be sure she's the right one for you."

"I missed her like mad, and like her fine," Spiller retorted, "but settle down right now, I won't. I can't. She's too young and has too much to learn about the outdoors. This was a right good experiment but the results aren't in yet."

Arista hugged Spiller goodbye when it was time for him to leave. "Don't stay away too long, you love birds." He rolled his eyes at that.

Then she hugged Arrietty. "Come back soon. I hope Spiller brings you back next time he comes." She pressed something into her hands, and Arrietty smelled the warm, fresh smell of the bread they had made. Arista had given her one of the loaves. "Take this with you. It will be good with the jam I gave you."

"I'd like to come back," Arrietty said, her cheeks reddening, "maybe when the shoes are done. We'll see."

Burgonet hugged her, too, and he and Arista followed them down the passage, and watched them disappear into the long grass outside the vicarage. Spiller turned and raised his hand one last time before they got out of sight.

When they got to the side of the boat, Arrietty took off her shoes and stockings as always, finding movement in a boat easier with bare feet and putting her on an even field with Spiller. He helped Arrietty in, then climbed in himself and when she was settled by the cargo he got ready to push off. "All set?"

Arrietty nodded. "Thank you for taking me to meet Arista and Burgonet.. I had a lovely time, but I am ready to go home." She settled down against the lumpy packages of sugar and tea. "They are ever so nice, aren't they?"

"Yes," said Spiller, "they are. Sorry they got so wrapped up in us as a pair, though. Was getting embarrassing."

Arrietty looked at him thoughtfully. "I was surprised that you had told them so much about me. And I think it's sweet that you missed me so much when I was gone. That's what they remembered, Spiller, and I wasn't embarrassed, just surprised. I guess because they're older, and happy, they want everyone to be as happy as they are. That's all."

Spiller considered this, as they slid down the river on the dark water. "I think they just want someone like them to play with. They are happy, yes, but also lonely at times. I knew they'd like having someone new to talk to but I didn't know they'd take it so seriously."

He was totally ignoring what she had said about how he had regaled them with stories of the nice girl he'd met, and how he's gone to them several times for comfort when he'd lost her. He knew that wasn't fair, but he did think Arista and Burgonet wanted to know another young married couple their age.

"Spiller, I like being with you. I liked being on this trip with you. I want to be with you all the time, but I know I can't. I know it's too soon. But I hope someday…maybe."

"I hope so, too," said Spiller. "For now, though, just wrap up in the quilt and rest. I have to keep an eye on the river and the sky. It looks like rain. If it rains hard, we might have to pull in for a bit."

Arrietty looked at the gray clouds scuttling above them in the wind, and nodded. "I'll do whatever you say," she said.

Taking his butter knife, Spiller pushed off. Arietty watched him standing in the bow, but the rolling river soon put her to sleep. She dreamed that she was in a room, alone, and someone was knocking, but she couldn't find a door, and when she called, no one answered.

Then she heard Spiller's voice calling frantically, "Ari! Ari! Wake up," and she was awake and he was not part of her dream. He was real, and the sound she was hearing was big, fat raindrops falling on the canopy over her head. There were already puddles of water that had blown into bow of the boat.

Spiller was trying to push the boat under a hollow log sticking out from the shore. It was cracked at an angle so that one edge, the top of the log jutted out, making a fair roof over their heads. He had maneuvered the bow of the boat under the top of the log and had the bow pushed up slightly on the inside of the bottom, but had to find a way to keep it there. A good wave could knock them off their precarious perch and send them back out into the storm. Inside the log just ahead of where he had pulled up, where the bottom was still whole, it was rough, and he thought if he could just attach the boat more securely to that, they could ride out the storm under the roof, provided the water didn't rise too high.

"A grapnel" he shouted.

He had one of these on each side of the boat under the canopy, made of large safety pins, with a piece of twine attached. If he could hook the pins into the bottom of the log that would probably hold them more securely but he didn't know how he was going to do that and still hold the boat in place. He would probably only have a split second to throw once he let go of the butter knife that he was using for a punt pole before the current swept them back off their perch and out from under the overhang of the log back into the storm.

Arrietty snatched up the pin and the coil of twine and came toward him but she did not attempt to hand it to him. Gathering the coil of rope in left hand, she came up behind his right shoulder and tossed the pin exactly where Spiller would have if he'd had his hands free. It caught exactly as he had hoped it would.

"The other side," he gasped. "Hurry. I can't hold it for long."

She ran back and snatched the other pin and threw it the same way, aiming for the left side of the log. This time she missed. Grim faced she drew it back in and tried again. It held. The two pins were buried in the log and Arrietty and Spiller drew in the twine just enough to keep the boat back far enough that it was both hidden and safe under the jutting edge, out of the rain.

Once they were fairly sure they were well settled, they began to bail the water out of the bottom of the bow. Spiller knew every inch of this river and every spot that might be shelter. He'd gotten them under before too much had come in, but he had gotten soaked in the process. Once they had the boat cared for Arrietty turned to him.

"Give me your vest. I'll prop the crochet hook up and hang it to dry. Then you can get under the quilt. You're soaking wet and you'll freeze if you don't."

He handed it to her silently, and went back and sat under the canopy on the little wooden platform next to the cargo for a few minutes, trying to drip off a bit so that the quilt didn't get totally soaked from his wet hair and trousers. To his surprise Arrietty hung up her dress when she hung up his vest, and came back in her under vest and petticoat. "Those things should dry pretty well there."

She sat down beside him and he tossed the quilt around her shoulder and then drew her close to his side. "Crikey good throwing that was. Better than I could've done meself. You knew right what I wanted without me even saying," Spiller said admiringly.

Arrietty shrugged. "We had one of those in the balloon we made to escape the attic, remember? Ours was different…it was double sided, but I know what they are. Once you called to me it was pretty easy to see what you were going to do." He was no longer cold, in fact he felt very warm beside her. She snuggled up to his side and was as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. "We can't leave until it stops, can we?"

"Probably shouldn't try to," Spiller said. "Don't want the boat to get flooded out. And if it doesn't stop until morning we'll be stuck for the day. Don't want to be out on this stretch of river when it's broad daylight. Human foot paths on both sides, there are, and several bridges that they go back and forth on all day. We're probably stuck until tomorrow dusk."

"I don't mind," said Arrietty. "You probably need the rest anyway, the way you were fighting with the knife. It amazes me how you do that." She looked up at him, her head tilted, and was so cute that Spiller couldn't resist. He leaned in and kissed her. His hands were warm on her skin but his cheek was rough.

He shaves, she thought, wondering why she had never noticed it before. She kissed him back, and they kept kissing for a few minutes, until a crack of thunder and flash of lighting somewhere down the river startled them.

He turned then and started shoving the cargo around on the wood, until it was all to one side of the knife box handle, leaving the other side for them to lie down on. "That's a good idea…to get some sleep. Need some sleep for sure," he said sheepishly. They both lay down, with Arrietty still against his side, and maneuvered the quilt over themselves.

As he looked up at the canopy over their heads, and felt her head settle down against his collarbone, he said softly, "We make a good team at that, Ari."

"Oh, goodnight," she said, rolling over embarrassed and turning her back to him. He grinned and turned toward her, putting his arm around her waist and tucking his knees behind hers. She allowed this, and it was the sound of her even breathing that finally put him to sleep, not the now more gentle patter of the rain.

When Arrietty woke up, Spiller was still sleeping soundly. His smile, which seemed so mocking, so teasing, when he was awake made him look like a little boy when he was asleep, even with the slight stubble on his cheeks. She smiled looking at him. She eased away from him hoping not to wake him. He was lying on his back and she had been curled up at his side holding his arm with her head on his shoulder.

Why do I never wake him up when I get up? She wondered about this for a moment, knowing how usually he was so aware of every little thing. She decided it must be because he was so comfortable with her and that thought made her happy.

She got up and found a steady drip coming from the trees over the front of the log, but the rain had stopped. She caught enough drips to wash her face and hands. Then she dressed herself and checked the boat's moorings. The pins had held and she felt very proud of herself. She quietly edged around the other side of the boat and dug out the jelly Arista had given her, and the loaf of bread. That, plus water, would have to be breakfast.

As she was replacing the bags after digging out the food Spiller opened his eyes. "Morning," he said. "Is it a good one?"

"The rain has stopped and the pins are still holding," Arrietty answered, "and we've got bread and jelly for breakfast."

"Sounds like a good one to me," he said, sitting up and stretching.

He fiddled with the bags for a moment. When he went across the boat to where the bow was pushed up on the log, he glanced back and with her cheeks reddening, she realized that he must need private time. She busied herself rearranging, glad that she had been able to handle her own morning routine while he was still asleep. When he came back he was cleaner than usual, and his face was smooth again. He tucked whatever it was that he used for a razor back into the bag quickly.

"Have you ever thought of growing a beard?" Arrietty blurted out.

Spiller looked up startled. "No. Should I have?"

She considered this and shook her head. "I wish you wouldn't. Mother was always so glad that Papa didn't want one. Uncle Hendreary always had one but she never understood why he wanted it. She said it was pretty straggly at times and when I met him I knew exactly what she was talking about. When he met me again at the cottage, he hadn't seen me since I was little. He kissed my cheek and it was scratchy."

Spiller grinned and putting one hand on the knife box handle, leaned around and put the other behind her neck, drawing her in for a kiss. "And I'm not?" he murmured.

"No," said Arrietty softly. They were so close she could feel him breathing.

"Then that's settled," he said, kissing her again. "Now what about the bread and jelly?"

As they ate, she asked him about how maple trees were tapped. He laughed, pleased by her keen curiosity. "That's something most just don't do in Britain," he said, "but the old man who owned the house where I grew up had been born in the Scottish Highlands. His family used to tap sycamore maples there in the spring, and did get sap. He tried it here as well. Me dad had heard him tell about it. When I was a tot, he decided to try to figure out how it was done. We watched the humans until we got it down. Course for a long time we just borrowed the sap from them. The old man said the sycamore maples didn't produce nearly as much as the Americans and Canadians get out of their sugar maples but it was possible to get some. You just can't use ornamental maples. Nasty milky sap those have."

"But how do you get it out?" Arrietty wondered.

Spiller spread some of the jelly on another piece of bread. "Sap flows when daytime temperatures are above freezing and nighttime temperatures are below. So it has to be in the spring. The bigger the tree, the more taps you can make, as long as they ain't in the same places you've tapped in years before. The height of the tap hole the old man used was high as far as borrowers go. Three feet, maybe. You have to drill a hole and put in a spile. That's a sort of pipe for the sap to come out and you have to have something to catch it. Humans use buckets. I use whatever I can get."

"How long does it take?" Arrietty asked, as he munched his bread.

"Oh, it depends. Some days you only get a bit. Other days your buckets will overflow if you don't mind them and get them emptied in time. We used to like it when that happened to the humans because we could just borrow the extra. Looks like water when it comes out, it does. To make the syrup you have to boil the excess water from the sap. It takes 40 parts maple sap to make one part maple syrup. It steams a lot so you have to boil outdoors. I can boil it in my stove since I have good ventilation in there, but me dad remembered a day the old man tried to do it in the kitchen of the big house and it peeled the paint right off the walls." Spiller finished his food and shifted around to the back of the boat and dangled his feet off the edge into the water.

Arrietty laughed. "Arista came up with the idea to make jelly?"

Spiller nodded. "She did and I was glad when she did. Syrup's as good as honey for sweetening but the jelly was a bonus." He brushed off his hands, and then looked out the stern of the boat. "Pretty day this is. Wish we could travel but it's too risky. The humans will be out for sure enjoying the spring. We'll have to wait for night."

"I hope Papa isn't worried about me," Arrietty said, putting the lid back on the jelly jar and leaning over the side of the boat to wash the sticky syrup off her hands.

"I didn't give him no timetable," Spiller said defensively. "Never do. Never know how long anything will take on the river. Too many variables."

"I'm sure he knows we couldn't travel last night with all that rain. When we were in the boot and then in the kettle, we watched for you, but we knew the rain would throw you off." She settled down beside him, with her feet in the water, too.

"I miss that kettle," Spiller said. "Knew right away when it turned up missing what had happened. That was a big storm."

"I was never so glad to see anyone, as I was to see you that day. I was really worried. You saved our lives, but then you've saved our lives so many times. I owe you so much that I can never repay."

"Never wanted you to try," Spiller said firmly.

She looked out at the river and the green bank on the other side, which was dotted with flowers. A butterfly flew right past their log and they could feel the warmth of the sun starting to steam some of the water off the log. It was all so lovely that Arietty burst into tears.

Spiller looked startled. "Ari, whatever is the matter?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders as she cried into her hands.

"It's so beautiful on the river today," she blubbered, "and I know when I get to the mill, I'm going to be back under the floor where I'll hardly ever see it. You don't know what it's like growing up under a floor, with nothing around you but passages and gates, with no one to talk to and no one to play with. If I hadn't had my grating, so I could at least see a bit of the sky I don't know what I would have done but even that made me sad sometimes. It was like being in a prison. It was like that in the cottage, too. Being inside the wall in those two rooms Aunt Lupy gave us was no better than being under the floor. Nothing but shadows and lath and plaster all around. All that dust and darkness, and wood shavings in the hall. That's why I used to go down and talk to Tom."

"I can see where sharing a wall with Lupy and Hendreary might wear on you," Spiller admitted. "They gets on me nerves after a bit, too."

Arrietty sat up a bit, wiping her cheeks with the hem of her pinafore. "I liked seeing the cousins. I liked meeting them after hearing so much about them and Timmis was sweet. My mother certainly loved seeing Uncle Hendreary again. He's the only family she's got left but she and Lupy never got along. Mother thinks Lupy's stuck up and Lupy thinks she's better than my mother because we lived under the kitchen in the old house and she and her first husband lived the drawing room. He was a Harpsichord. Lupy was born a Rain-Pipe but after she married Harpsichord she took on airs. Then he died and she married my Uncle Hendreary, but mother never could understand why he wanted to marry her. I think I know, though."

"What do you think?" Spiller asked, curious.

"He was a widower, and she was a widow, and he probably thought that they could help each other with their children, but it must not have worked out very well. Eggletina ran away, you see, and for a long time they thought she'd been eaten by the cat. That's why they emigrated. He'd been seen and the humans got in a cat."

Arietty frowned, remembering. "They hadn't talked to Eggletina about him being seen or about cats. They had tried to make their children believe there wasn't anything except what was under the floor. Mother and Papa thought it was a foolish way to bring up children. They thought Eggletina just figured out that there was something else out there and had gone exploring but I'm not so sure."

"What do you think it was then," Spiller asked gently, reaching out and smoothing her hair back from her face.

"I think she was like me, just tired of the same thing day in and day out. She's back in the dark now, but at least she got out for awhile and got to see what the world was like."

Spiller shook his head, and looked out over the water. It was getting on afternoon. The leaves on the trees above the log were casting pretty pattern of shade on the water, and a bumblebee was flying past. "I didn't know about the cat," he admitted, "but I knew Eggletina had run off as a child. Lupy used to throw it up to her now and again when Eggletina got too dreamy. I think they found her living outside when they left the house. I'm not sure where she was living but I don't think she even saw a cat. I think that must be what makes her dreamy, the getting out and then coming back in."

"I can see Aunt Lupy doing that, "Arrietty admitted, "Although she didn't do it when we were there. We always talked about other things. Papa was making them all new shoes, you see, and of an evening we used to come downstairs for a little while. The grownups would talk about the old days under the house mostly but sometimes they would talk about other things, too. Every time someone mentioned you, I wanted to cry. Sometimes I did, just went upstairs and cried. Thinking of you made me think of the river, and hedgerows, and early morning dew."

He grinned at that. "And here I thought you was missing me for meself."

"Oh, Spiller, I did miss you," Arrietty said, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging tight, "but part of you is the way you live. It makes you who you are, don't you see? And I will miss that, too, when we're at the mill and back under the floor again. There'll be no sunshine, no flowers, no bark or grasses. It'll just be another prison."

He patted her back. "I can bring you all the flowers you want and won't we be nipping out onto the river whenever we please? Didn't I promise to take you back to see Arista and Burgonet? We can visit Lupy and Hendreary, too, so that they know you're alive, as long as we don't stay too long, and we'll go back to Little Fordham. You know I promised you that and I try to keep my promises."

She drew back and looked into his solemn black eyes. "Oh, please do. I so love Little Fordham. It's the most perfect place on earth. I've never been happier than the summer we spent there, although I was nearly that happy in the boot. I had outdoors and indoors, and all the people I loved together and I really was happy."

His mouth twitched into one of his teasing smiles. "You counting me in that?"

"Of course!" Arrietty exclaimed, and then she kissed him.

They kept kissing for awhile, and hugging, and then started touching, and it felt very right to both of them. She was enjoying it quite a bit, being much more used to kissing by that point. His skin was so warm under her hands. She liked putting them on his broadening shoulders and pulling him close to her, and she liked running her hands over his chest. It was mostly smooth, only slightly furred in the center, and from there she could run her hands around his back and pull him even closer still.

As for enjoying it, so was he. He had to be content running his hands over her clothes, since she had so many more of them than he did. He didn't know how to get through them and wasn't sure what she would do if he even tried. Her shape fascinated him, though. He was mostly angles, hard bone and muscle, but she was all softness and curves. Exploring those curves was a treat, but after awhile, he pulled back.

"Oh, Ari!" Spiller said in a frustrated tone of voice, and tossed himself right out of the boat into the river.

"Spiller, what in the world are you doing?" Arrietty cried, leaning over when his head popped back up.

He tilted his face back, sprayed out a long arc of water from his mouth, and said shortly, "taking a bath in the river."

"But it must be freezing cold!" Arrietty exclaimed.

"I knew that," he said, looking up at her, smirking, "but it seemed like the easiest way to cool down. You drive me mad, sometimes, know that? I don't think your father would've been very happy if he'd come along just now."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad," Arrietty said crossly. "Not that bad, no."

"Besides," Spiller said, still smirking, as he floated over in front of her, "you're always telling me I'm filthy. Was the first thing you ever said to me."

"The first thing I ever said to you was I asked you your name," Arrietty pointed out, straightening up and tucking her skirts modestly around her legs.

"And then you said I was filthy," he pointed out, swimming up to the side of the boat, and pulling himself up.

"Mmm, yes, I guess I did," Arrietty admitted, and then she shrieked with laughter, throwing her hands up in front of her face as he shook his head like a wet dog.

And they both lay down in the back of the boat in the patch of sunshine that had crept under the log, hands folded behind their heads, and looked out at the river, thinking hard about the past, and how it always led to the future.

"Remember when we came up to that hole in the bank and your mother saw me?" Spiller asked, Arrietty.

"She didn't see you, not at first. That was the problem. You blend into the background and hold so still. I know why you do it, and I'm used to it now, but she wasn't used to it then. It was like you'd popped up out of the ground, and she wasn't used to the idea of borrowers living outdoors, either. The way you live was her worst nightmare at that point."

"She changed her tune pretty quick," Spiller acknowledged. "Called me a dirty, naughty, unwashed boy one day and a hero the next."

"You're both, really," Arrietty laughed. "You know that, don't you?"

"I can be anything you want me to be, Ari. At least I'll try to be," Spiller answered. He was getting dry, and the sun was warm and comfortable, and the lapping of the water against the back of the boat was very soothing. As he nodded off, Arietty looked at him with tears in her eyes again.

I know you will, she thought to herself, and it's all I want. She eased over beside him and snuggled in at his side. She didn't understand what it was that was making her so emotional around Spiller. She thought she loved him, but she'd been told so many times that she was too young to know what love was, too young to be making those kind of decisions about her future, that it made her doubt herself. She certainly couldn't really just say to him that she loved him, and she instinctively knew he wasn't ready to say it, either, but she was beginning to believe that she did, and that he did, and that caused so many feelings inside her that she had to let them out somehow. It seemed to be easiest with tears.

Spiller woke up from their nap first, and smiled when he saw Arrietty curled up beside him. He leaned in and lightly kissed her forehead.

She opened her eyes and saw his black ones, quite close to hers. "Hello."

"Hello," he said back. "It's getting toward evening. Want to finish the rest of that bread for dinner, before we set out again?"

She sat up and yawned. "I guess so." She looked out over the water and saw how low the sun was. "We slept a long time. It's nice sometimes to just relax and do nothing."

"When I first met you, I didn't understand why you like to play so much," Spiller admitted. "Didn't know what it meant to you, seeing all of those outside things for the first time. I stopped enjoying the way it looks outside long ago. You kind of gave that back to me, Ari. I appreciate days like this more when I'm with you. Some days I'm working so hard just to live I forget what it's like to take some time to do nothing. Before I met you I never relaxed, or played. I do think it's possible to play too much, but I'm starting to understand what it's like to just have fun."

"I always have fun with you, Spiller. Even when things get scary, I'm not really afraid because I feel safe with you. It's an adventure, being with you but I like it."

She scooted back and got the bread and jelly back out. "I'm glad we had this along. What would we have done without it?"

"I'd have gone fishing or hunting, I suppose," Spiller answered. "I usually do have food along, but in the spring it's easy to find things. There's bird's eggs, and plenty of greens in the spring if nothing else."

Arrietty shuddered as she sliced bread. "I got so sick of greens when we were living in the field before we found you. Strawberries, blackberries, nuts and watercress…we didn't have anything else for days." She handed him a piece of bread slathered with jelly.

"Your whole lot was certainly glad to have some meat again," said Spiller slyly. "Forgave me for killing that mouse pretty quick at that point."

Arrietty started. "You told me that wasn't mouse!"

"It weren't," he said. "I'm just teasing you." He looked out at the river as he ate his bread. "Nearly there," he said. "Little Fordham's only a couple of hours away. As soon as we eat we can set off."

"Shouldn't we wait until dark?" Arrietty asked, as the boat gently rocked under her. She was getting used to living on the boat and had a feeling she would almost miss it when they got back to the village.

"No," Spiller said, "it will probably be all right to head out soon. No one fishes this late in the day except poachers, and I hadn't seen no gypsies for awhile before we left. They usually stay further down river anyway, by the spinney, not this close to the town and most of the other humans will be heading to their own homes by now. We just look like a piece of wood in the water anyway."

They finished the loaf of bread, and looked sadly at the jelly jar, which was half empty. Arrietty wiped it off, and washed her sticky hands as Spiller walked to the front of the boat. He actually stepped out of it, into the log, to check the pins, and Arrietty gasped, holding her hands to her face.

"Be careful," she admonished him. "What if it comes off and I take off without you? I don't know what I would do if that happened."

"That won't happen," he said confidently. "Look here. I have to get this one pin out. It's at an angle. The other one I can pop off with me butter knife. Just get ready for the jolt." He loosened the one pin, and the boat swung free on that side, coming up hard against the other side of the log. He jumped back in and reached for the butter knife as Arrietty carefully wound up the twine and replaced the first pin under the canopy. He popped off the second pin and the boat rocked again. With one hard push, they were coming out from under the log and spinning slightly, they headed out to the middle of the river. As he steered, she carefully wound up the other pin. It was bent slightly, but she didn't think it was too bad. She went back and sat down.

"You did that very, very, well," she told him.

He glanced back. "It was tricky and not what I'd do normally. You should never get out of a flat boat like this, Ari, unless it's fastened in two places. We were up a bit on the log, and I still had the one pin, so I was all right, but if it has just been one pin, I wouldn't. All you need is a little movement in the water and you can fall down if you're only tied up or clipped on in one place."

"I'll remember that," she said solemnly.

She enjoyed watching the river at nightfall. The last of the setting sun, and the rising moon were both so beautiful, and once night fell, the moonlight on the water cast shimmering shadows. She was almost sad when Spiller guided them out of the river and into the small stream that ran behind Little Fordham. She knew Ballyhoggin was there somewhere behind the rushes and she shuddered, remembering how she and her parents had been carted there in a cardboard box, frightened out of their wits.

They pulled up next to Mr. Pott's fence finally and Arietty helped Spiller moor both ends of the both to keep it still as they climbed out He had a regular place for his boat and she knew where it was and how he usually did it. She had met him down at the river so many times the year before, always glad to see him because she had been lonely without him. That was one of the reasons she had begun to talk to Miss Menzies. They unloaded, but they only carried their own gear up the bank.

"Pod can come and help with the cargo," Spiller told Arrietty, as he swung his quilt over his shoulder. She nodded. The village was peaceful in the moonlight. As they came up to Vine Cottage, Spiller frowned. It's dark, and there's no smoke coming out of the chimney. Thought your dad would be waiting up to see if we'd come in. It ain't that late. Think they're asleep already?"

Arrietty sighed, and shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other. "I doubt it. Papa's probably nervous again about being seen. That's probably why Mother has the fire out. He was already worrying about it before we left, remember?"

When they got to the front door it was not locked. Spiller pushed it open and they went inside. It was dark and no one came to greet them even when they called. There was no fire on the hearth and none of Pod or Homily's possessions were about.

Arietty dropped her bag and ran upstairs looking through the bedrooms, then ran back down the stairs. "There's nothing here! Papa's shoemaking equipment is gone. No tools, none of the blankets Mother made, none of her sewing things, either. There's no food. Where are they? Oh, Spiller, what if Mabel and Sidney got them back?"

She hurled herself into his arms, but as he wrapped his arm around her, he shook his head. "That lot wouldn't have taken all of Pod and Homily's things and left all the stuff that belongs to the house. They'd have taken nothing like they did before or they would have taken everything. They haven't been took, Ari. They've left," Spiller said grimly. "It's the only thing that makes sense."

"But where would they go without me?" She asked, stricken. "I don't want to be all alone!"

"You're not alone, Ari. You're with me," Spiller said firmly, but his mind was racing. He had no idea what had happened to Homily and Pod, and if they were missing, or course he had to stay with Arrietty, and he would, but he hoped they could be found. He was not quite that ready to start a life with her and if he were forced to be, he wasn't sure if it would end well.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Spiller shut the door, and pressed the button for the electric light. The room blazed up, harsh, bright light that made Arrietty blink.

"Oh, Spiller, don't leave that thing on! Anyone can see that we're here with that thing on!"

"Like who?" He asked Arrietty as he looked around the room. "They weren't taken away, Ari. I told you. It makes no sense to think they were. Frankly, if Potts or that Miss saw the light on and came over here I'd be pleased to see 'em. Maybe they know what happened."

"Mother and Papa would never tell them anything!" Arrietty said firmly.

"No, but that don't mean they didn't see nothing," Spiller said, beginning to get cross. "What's this?" He walked over to the table, and Arrietty followed him. There was a large piece of white paper covering the top of the table. Because it had been lying flat, they hadn't noticed it when they had come in. They had just seen the empty table but now, as they looked at it closely, they realized it was a large piece of the white paper bag that Pod had used to trace their feet to size their new boots. On this piece was a drawing, two large pictures.

"It's a clue!" Arrietty cried, "Or perhaps a message. I've seen those pictures before, but I can't think where."

"Seen 'em twice I have, and I know where," Spiller retorted. "One's in the town and one's right here in Little Fordham."

Arrietty looked again, and then a certain swinging sign came to mind. "It's a crown, and an anchor. The Crown and Anchor is the public house! Do you think Mother and Papa went there? But why? And did they go to the human one or the one here?"

"They wouldn't go to a place with that many humans," Spiller said, holding up the paper, and examining the drawings up close. "Must be the one here in the model village. Don't know why they would do that, but they must've done. That's halfway between the river and old man Pott's house. What say we pick up our things and go take a look?" He rolled up the drawing, and went back by the door where he'd dropped his quilt and kit bag. Arrietty followed him and picked up her own bag. She watched as he put out the electric light, and gathered up his things.

She shut the door behind them. "I don't see why Papa would want to go to this Crown and Anchor, either," she said as they walked down to the High Street. "We've already looked around in there. The front of it is a public room with tables, chairs, and a bar. There are nice bottles and glasses behind the bar, but that's all that's really useful. When we took the curtains out of the windows and moved them to the cottage, Miss Menzies replaced them but she never said a word about it and once she had, no one could see in there anyway. I think that's why she never did anything with the upstairs or the back room. The stairs go up, but there's nothing there."

"The big one is not just a pub, though that's how the old widow who runs it makes most of her money. It's more of an inn. Those tables are for serving meals. She does teas on the weekend for folks who come to see the model railroad, and she does an evening meal as well. Ain't many places in the town for the humans to go out to eat. Not a big town. In the big one the back room is a kitchen, and there's a pantry and a bedroom off that for Mrs. Read. She runs the place," Spiller told Arrietty. "Then there's bedrooms upstairs that she lets out to travelers."

Trudging along toward the miniature one, Arrietty didn't even bother to ask him how he knew this about the big Crown and Anchor. She hadn't known Spiller had explored Fordham, but it didn't surprise her, either. He was an absolutely fearless borrower and she might have known that he wouldn't have been able to resist taking a look around the human town at some point.

When they got past the shops and to the little Crown and Anchor, he set down his bag and tried the door. It swung open easily, and he and Arrietty cautiously stepped inside. The tables, laid for luncheon with miniature china and cutlery, stood spread around the room and under the windows. The bar, with all of the miniature bottles and stacks of glassware looked as it always did, but just before Arrietty could say this, Spiller grinned. "There's a fire burning low in the fireplace, and someone's dusted the bar. Now who would do that, do you think?"

They walked as quietly as they could past the staircase that led up to the second floor, and headed toward the kitchen. Arrietty called softly, "Mother? Are you there?"

The door to the kitchen swung open then and Homily rushed out followed by Pod. Homily was wiping her hands on her apron. "Arrietty, thank goodness. I was getting so worried. You found our note then? I was hoping you would. Come on back to the kitchen. Wait until you see it!" They both hugged Arrietty and Pod clapped Spiller on the back.

"Glad to see you, my boy. Did you have a nice trip?"

"Got stuff in the boat for you. Could use a hand with it," Spiller answered.

Pod nodded. "I'll help you bring it up."

"After we show you how we're fixed," Homily said excited. "Come along!" She bustled into the back room and Pod rolled his eyes and followed her. Spiller and Arrietty dropped their bags and did the same. The kitchen was bright and warm with a candle stub burning on the table in a little metal dish. There was a lovely little iron stove like the one at Vine Cottage, and something that smelled wonderful was simmering on the stove.

"I have chicken stew," Homily exclaimed. "After the humans got done fixing up the house and left, we came over for a look. One of them had left their bag behind with a nice drumstick, a banana, and another of those lovely chocolate biscuits. Don't know how they came to forget it."

Spiller and Arrietty glanced at each other, both of them thinking the same thing, that the leaving hadn't been accidental.

"Your father slipped over to the house to see what they were up to, and found a basket on the porch with carrots and potatoes in it. Can't believe they left that out of doors and didn't take it into the kitchen right away. Your father got a carrot and a potato for my stew."

Spiller and Arrietty looked at each other again and this time they couldn't help smiling. They were both fairly sure that hadn't been accidental, either.

"Come wash your hands and I'll give you a bite to eat. We got a real tureen for soup now and real bowls, plates and knives and forks and spoons. They stocked the whole kitchen with the most wonderful pots and pans, too. The sink is just lovely. There's a holding tank over the back porch, and it's full up from all that rain we had. When we turn the tap the water comes right out. We've been keeping the soup on simmer hoping you'd come back tonight."

"Didn't expect you last night because of the storm," Pod acknowledged, as he sat down at the table, which had a nice red checked tablecloth on it, and a vase that Homily had filled with tiny flowers that she had picked from the remains of the garden Spiller and Arrietty had planted at Vine Cottage the year before.

"Yes, we had to hold up," Spiller said, giving his hands a quick rinse. Homily handed him a nicely hemmed dish towel that he suspected Miss Menzies had made to go with the sink.

He and Arrietty sat down at the table as Homily set out bowls and spoons. "Whatever caused you to move over here?" Arrietty asked, looking around.

"Well, you know how we'd seen them humans working before you left?" Homily said, bringing a tureen full of soup to the table. "They were working on this place. Didn't we tell you that they'd eventually do up all the buildings? They've got the kitchen here fixed all nice, and they've made four bedrooms upstairs. Everything you could ever want. It's just lovely. "

"The big Crown and Anchor has six," Spiller said, surprised, as he picked up his spoon.

"I'm glad they didn't do that!" Homily exclaimed. "They'd be too small. Your father and I have one, and there's one set up for you, Arrietty, and we've turned one into a work room for my sewing and your father's cobbling. He hasn't finished the shoes yet, you see."

"That's because the minute she saw this place she wanted to move. We've spent every blasted minute moving, or rearranging the furniture, even though the minute she moved something she moved it back." Pod shook his head, frustrated.

"Spiller, dear, you can either take the other bedroom upstairs or the one down here by the kitchen," Homily said ignoring him. "Downstairs might be best. You'd have your own entrance for when you come to visit and when you leave at odd hours."

"But I thought we weren't staying here!" Arrietty explained. "Papa, you said you didn't trust it!"

"Well, I didn't trust the cottage," said Pod. "Those other ones knew we were there, you know. Might stay here for a bit. It's farther from the river and closer to the old man's house so it's probably safer, and there's so much stuff left by the visitors when the railroad is open. So many things are here that we could stock up on. I was wondering if Spiller would mind making a few trips to the mill with me between now and fall, to get it set up. That way we could have it ready to move into when we're ready, instead of having to sort it all out when we get there."

"Could do," Spiller said, in between mouthfuls of the delicious stew. Bread and jelly were wonderful things, but you couldn't live on them forever.

"And I do have the shoes to finish," Pod added.

"Oh, Papa, about the shoes, the people we went to visit need some too. Can you make them some? I traced their feet just like you do. They're ever so nice!" Arrietty told her parents all about Arista and Burgonet and about their neat little home under the Vicarage, and how the visit had gone. "They said they'd like me to visit again, someday and I'd like that ever so much," she ended wistfully.

They had banana for dessert. After dinner, Homily took Arrietty to see the bedrooms, while Pod and Spiller went back to the boat to unload. Arrietty could see what Miss Menzies had in mind when she'd furnished the rooms. Pod and Homily's bed had an eiderdown, real sheets, and a quilt with a pattern Homily called double wedding ring. The room was painted a restful shade of light blue and there was a nightstand, a five drawer dresser and a lovely mirrored dresser as well.

"We have an extra set of sheets in the bottom drawer," Homily said, pulling it out of the mirrored dresser. "One for washing and one for using. They're like that in all the bedrooms."

Arrietty's room was light green, and the bed had a quilt in lovely shades of green that reminded Arrietty of out of doors. There was a five drawer dresser and a nightstand in there, too, a mirror on the wall with a gilded frame, a desk and chair. Arrietty walked to the desk and pulled open the drawer. There were sheets of paper, cut letter sized for a borrower and several miniature pencils. She sighed with pleasure.

The last bedroom was painted beige. The bed had a brown bedspread. Arrietty pulled it back and saw two beige blankets under the spread. Arrietty suspected that Miss Menzies had been thinking of Spiller when she designed the room but she agreed with her mother that he might be better off in the bedroom off the kitchen. Spiller wouldn't know what to do with such luxury.

The workroom had a bed and a dresser, but it also had a little rocking chair that was perfect for Homily to sit in and sew and a little table under the window with a stool beside it that was just right for Pod to use when he was plying his trade.

All of the bedrooms in the house had little stands with wash bowls and basins, and tucked under these stands were little china chamber pots. They all had rag rugs in colors to match the rooms. Mr. Pott and Miss Menzies had spared no expense to get these rooms done up. Arrietty so wished that she could thank her.

On the way to the boat, Pod shook his head again in frustration. "Homily's as happy as a lark, but I don't like this. Can't put me finger on it, but something isn't right about it. I'm still determined to go to the mill, but I guess it can wait a bit."

"Sure it will be fine," Spiller said shortly. "Got a point about getting your rooms arranged before you move in. There's something to be said for that."

"Perhaps," Pod answered. "Sounds like Arrietty had a good time with those other ones. Everything go all right?"

"Until the rains came," Spiller said, as they reached the boat. "But nothing got ruined by it." He climbed into the boat. "I'll hand the things out to you." As he handed out the tea, the onion, and the baking powder, Pod stacked it up on the bank.

"What about you and Arrietty?" Pod asked finally. "Get along all right?"

"Got along fine," Spiller said, picking up the half eaten jar of jelly, and tucking it into the burlap bag with the tea. "Think we wouldn't?"

"Was worried about exactly how well you'd get along," said Pod. "I know she likes you and you like her, but I was hoping you'd keep a check on yourselves."

Spiller got the point and sighed. "Might as well tell you the truth about that. Well, I did kiss her, and I liked it and she liked it. So that's where it stands. All right?"

Pod blinked, and then his mouth twitched. "I suppose. That's just as well. If you hadn't kissed her she probably would have kissed you and then what would you have done?"

They both started to laugh and Spiller climbed out of the boat relieved. Pod wasn't going to question him anymore about what he and Arrietty had done on the trip, which was a relief, and Arrietty was going to get to stay in Little Fordham a bit longer before going back under the floor. That could only be a good thing.

And it was. Arrietty and Spiller had a glorious June. They went fishing together, and several times he sneaked her up to see Mr. Pott and Miss Menzies. The first time she saw Arrietty, Miss Menzies burst into tears. "Arrietty, you've grown so much! What a beautiful young woman you've become!"

"I've told her that meself," Spiller said with a grin. "Still needs to grow up a bit more but she seems to have the hang of it now."

They all laughed at that. Not only was it not breaking her promise if Spiller was the one that did all the talking to the humans, Miss Menzies always seemed to enjoy hearing about their adventures. Plus they always received nice gifts when they did this. She was always good for food of various types that was not dropped by the visitors, and gladly gave them a spool of black thread when Homily needed it, and a large tube of seed beads for Pod to use as shoe buttons. They sat in Mr. Pott's kitchen for hours the day the two humans told them all about the remodeling of the Crown and Anchor.

Pod and Homily often questioned them about what they were doing when they disappeared on their own, but Spiller usually just told them he was having Arrietty keep a lookout while he was borrowing, and although they admonished him often to be careful, they never forbid it. They continued to veer back and forth as to their opinion of Spiller and Arrietty's relationship.

One day it would be Pod conceding that they owed Spiller their lives and that his loyalty and bravery were unquestionable, and Homily would be wailing about his vagabond lifestyle. A few days later, impressed with his borrowings, Homily would admit what a good provider he would be and Pod would be in no mood to think about a day when Spiller might be borrowing for a household of his own that included Arrietty.

Spiller and Arrietty went back and forth just as much. One day he wanted to be near her so much that he couldn't dream of leaving her, and the next day he's get an overwhelming urge go jump in his boat and disappear. She would want him desperately, and then he would exasperate her beyond belief. It was a dilemma that played out as Spiller stayed where Arrietty was and made no move to return to his carefree life in the stove by the gypsy camp. Staying with Arrietty meant radical changes to his lifestyle, though.

So much domesticity just plain wore on Spiller after awhile. The bed in the kitchen was annoying. It was too soft. The first night he tried to sleep in it he couldn't sleep at all. Finally he got out, took the pillow off it, and wrapped up in a blanket on the rug. There he could sleep. It got better when he found a scrap of wood just under the size of the mattress, which he put under it. That made the bed firmer and he was eventually able to sleep in it.

Pod had a new rule that they must not go out into the village at all on the weekends when the visitors were present. He wanted no one to ever have the slightest chance to see them. This meant that Arrietty and Spiller could only ride the trains if they got aboard before they started running, and stayed on board until the village closed. Several times they packed a lunch and did just that. They would sit on the seats and talk, holding hands, until lunchtime. Then they would slip into a freight car as the train went behind the church, spread out a blanket, eat lunch, and do some snogging. They were careful not to go too far, but they could barely keep their hands off each other when they were together. It was driving Spiller mad.

On the days when Homily and Arrietty sewed or knitted and Pod worked at his last, and Spiller needed to get away, he would sometimes go hunting or into the human village. He borrowed six small vials with cork stoppers from the druggist for storing food. He also borrowed some screw hooks and a hacksaw blade from the carpenter. He thought the screw hooks would be nice to have when Pod moved his family to the mill.

He and Pod started to plan trips up the river with materials to be stored at the mill. The first time they went back they took the hooks, along with some scraps of wood from Mr. Pott and finished separating the space in the wall into rooms. They also a large collection of match boxes that they planned to turn into dressers. The second time they took a lot of tacks and small nails that they had borrowed from Mr. Pott's scullery workshop. Nails were needed to put the rooms right.

When they went to the mill they always stopped to see Old Daubery. Daubery was badly in need of fabric for Sateen to turn into dresses for the girls, and Miss Menzies had been more than happy to give Spiller some scraps of fabric to augment the handkerchiefs and pieces of pullovers and jackets that visitors dropped at the model village that Homily passed on to him.

They always had nice visits, although Daubery was rather cool to Pod, until he found out Pod was a cobbler. He then gave Pod a nice black leather dress glove he'd borrowed from the Vicar. Pod promised to make them shoes with it. The girls giggled as he marked out the shape of their feet on paper, and Pod swore to himself that he would make them the prettiest shoes possible.

He felt rather guilty that he hadn't finished the shoes for Arista and Burgonet, yet, but Spiller said they would understand. Pod had worked on the shoes for his family and Spiller's fall boots first, and then found it easier to tackle the shoes for Daubrey's family next simply because he felt he owed them for putting him and Spiller up every time they made a trip to the mill.

Spiller planned a trip to Holmcraft for the beginning of June to deliver all of the shoes, and he intended to take it alone, even though there were supplies that needed to be taken to the mill. He wanted to get down to Holmcraft and back before Arrietty's birthday. Homily was making a fuss about this. She had a very fine dinner planned, with a real birthday cake, and she had begged Spiller to be back on time for it.

"I'm making her a new dress," Homily said to Spiller chattily before he left for Holmcraft, "and some other clothes and Pod will have her new shoes ready for her then."

This gave Spiller pause. He wanted to give Arrietty something, too, and didn't know what. Then it came to him. He went to the station on his way to the river. Tucked in the bottom of a barrel right where he'd left it was the fine gold chain that he'd found on the street so long ago. He examined it carefully. The clasp had come off at one end, and the jump ring was too big for a borrower, but the chain was light and delicate. He cut a length of it and worked the links on the end open, then connected them and worked them back closed. He hoped it would please Arrietty. He took it back with him to the boat, where he hid it under the platform, between two of the cutlery compartments. Certain it was safe he set off down the river.

He unloaded the bags of supplies he had bought at the mill. There were bottle tops, and bunches of string, extra material that Homily had folded up and more yarn. He got these things all squared away at the mill as quickly as he could. He didn't want to waste time. He was hungry for Sateen's good cooking. He filled up bags of flour for her and set off.

When Spiller arrived at the landing he glanced downriver as he was unloading at the bend he never took and sighed. Then he went for Daubery to help him unload. Daubery asked after Pod kindly, but while he was helping he commented on what a good provider Spiller was, trying to convince him again that he should marry Hemiola. Spiller couldn't take it anymore and looked him straight in the eye. "No use in that. It's just no good, Daub. I like her. I like all the girls but they're all more like sisters to me. We were so young when we met."

"Always felt like you were part of the family, the old man said slowly. "Wish you really could be."

"I know and I know how much I owe you. It's a lot. I wish you well always, but it just won't work between me and Hemiola. I just don't feel that way about her. I can't, and anyway, there's someone else for me."

Daubery looked at Spiller sadly. "Pod's girl, isn't it? That Arrietty you're always talking about. She's the one for you?"

Spiller nodded. "Think so. Nothing is settled but I think so. When I'm ready to settle down think it will be with her. Mind you, I'm not talking about any time soon, just in general."

"I don't mean to be hard," Daubery said. "I never meant to be so hard. I know love can't be forced, but I wish I knew what would become of the girls when I'm gone. They need someone to take care of them"

"As if I'd ever let them starve," Spiller snorted, "but I'm not the only borrower left in the world, not by a long shot. You'll see."

"I hope so," Daubery said sadly.

When they got everything in the hall the girls came rushing to try on the new shoes. They were thrilled with them. Hemiola especially liked hers. Pod had given hers a bit of a heel. She looked very grown up and Spiller felt sorry for her. Instead of talking to her after they ate supper he pulled Actina onto his knee and told her stories about Little Fordham. That didn't help, though, because it just made Sateen tell him when Actina finally got down to go get ready for bed what a good father she thought he would be. It took Spiller a long time to get to sleep that night. He was terrified by the idea of having an actual child of his own and worried about how Daubery would break the news to Sateen about their discussion.

First thing in the morning after breakfast he packed up the rice, spices, lump of butter, and matches that Daubery was giving him in trade for the shoes and for a spool of thread that had been given to Spiller by Miss Menzies. When Spiller headed out he told them that he had promised to get back to Little Fordham for Arrietty's birthday party. The butter was in one of the glass vials, but Spiller rigged up a strap for it so he could keep in the cold water of the river to keep it fresh until he got back to Little Fordham.

He got back early in the morning and went straight to Mr. Pott. The old man always got up early. He was in the scullery mixing away at a big pot, getting to re-tar some of the lines, and that had to be done early before the day got too hot. He set water to boiling so that he would have a can of it to keep the tar can in, to keep it thin while he worked. He started a bit when Spiller called to him but he was quite used to borrowers now, and so greeted Spiller with a gruff hello.

"Up early, aren't you? Going on a trip?"

Spiller shook his head. "Just got back from one, actually. Had to get back, you see. Homily's having Arrietty's birthday party tonight. Is Miss Margaret going to be about? I need some help getting ready for that."

"Should be soon," Pott replied. "Birthday party is it? What do you have in mind?"

"Arrietty's turning seventeen and I got a gift I made for her but I have nothing to wrap it in and I want it to be nice. Do you think Miss Margaret would help me?"

Pott snorted. "Arrietty's birthday and you want to know if she'll help? Waste of breath, boy. You know she will. What kind of wrapper do you need?" He set his stirring stick down and turned to Spiller, wiping his hands.

"For this," Spiller said, reaching into his deep vest pocket and pulling out the chain. Found it awhile back broken off a human necklace. Thought it might do for Arrietty. I likes her to have nice things."

Pott took it up carefully. It seemed so delicate in his large rough hands. "Margaret will know what to do," he said firmly. "Leave it here for now. I'll put it on the porch by the door here when it's finished. I'll tell her first thing when she gets here."

Spiller left the house through the scullery feeling cheerful. He unloaded his boat and sorted the lumpy packages so that he could carry them. The butter was the most awkward thing. When he got to the Crown and Anchor he went in through the kitchen. Homily was busy icing the cake. He had to wait for her to get done before she would tell him where to put the food he'd brought. She had a piece of chocolate and was going to shave chocolate curls onto the cake to decorate it.

"Looks good," he said admiringly.

"So does Arrietty," Homily said. "The dress I made fits her perfectly and looks wonderful with the new shoes Pod made her."

"You already gave her gifts?" Spiller asked. He was a bit disappointed to have missed that.

"We had 'em on the table when she came down to breakfast. That way we thought she could dress up nice for dinner. Do you want some breakfast? I could come up with some nice cornmeal mush and you can put on some of this butter you brought."

"I'd like that," Spiller admitted.

Arrietty came in then and she looked so lovely that Spiller was struck dumb. The dress was more grown up than she usually wore; made from the calico print Miss Menzies had given them when he'd gone to her to fetch the pins for Homily to use to make knitting needles. It was brown, and orange, and rust, more fall colors than summer ones, but it looked good on Arrietty, especially with her new brown boots. Instead of having her hair down long and tied back with a ribbon she had drawn it back and up so that it cascaded down the back of her head.

The vision of a grown up Arrietty that Spiller had described to Burgonet had come true and it made him feel as grimy as he had ever felt. She looked so much like a princess that Spiller was afraid to touch her. Thank goodness she was not afraid to touch him. She called his name and ran to him and hugged him, kissing his cheek.

"Oh, Spiller, I was afraid you'd miss my birthday dinner! I'm so glad you're here."

"Nothing short of a hurricane would 've stopped me," He assured her.

"I'm trying to work here," Homily said, grumbling. "Can't you two go off somewhere else? Go into the front and take a table if you want to talk. I'll bring Spiller's breakfast as soon as I can."

At that, Spiller took Arrietty's hand and they went into the pub. When they were around the corner of the bar he grinned at her. "Can I really kiss you now?"

She sighed. "Since when do you ask permission?" and looped her arms around his neck. He kissed her and kissed her again. Then he swung her out, arms length away, and spun her around as he had done when they were tamping down the sand at Vine Cottage.

"You look a treat. Much too ladylike for a filthy chap like me," he said. "The duchess and the dustman, people will say."

She laughed. "What people?"

"Oh, I dunno. Anyone who sees us together. I'll have to go see Burgonet and Arista soon. Perhaps you can go with me."

Arrietty drew him over to a table by the window and they sat down holding hands. "I got the idea for this dress from her. The dress I helped her hem was a lot like this one. I described it to Mother when she asked me what I wanted. I'd love to go see them again sometime."

"Before I go there I have to take a trip to see Lupy. I have to have her measure me for my winter clothes," Spiller said.

"But it's only June," said Arrietty.

"Aye," Spiller said, but it will be almost July when I get over there. "I have to stop and check on my stove first. Really need to check on things there, I do. I've neglected it and I want to see what the gypsies are up to. Lupy needs time to get the fur and make the suit, too. She usually doesn't have Hendreary borrow the skin until she's got me measurements."

"You do look a bit taller than you did last winter," Arrietty admitted. "You must promise me, though, not to take any chances around the gypsies. That Mild Eye is probably still furious about being caught poaching and he won't forget about borrowers ever."

"I know what I can do and what I can't," Spiller assured her and leaned in for another kiss, which was interrupted by Pod coming downstairs with the boots he had made for Spiller. Arrietty blushed scarlet because her father had seen them kissing but Spiller seemed nonchalant about it.

"Hallo," he said. "Did a great job on Arrietty's boots, you did. Hope the rest of them are that nice. I was just telling her that she looks smashing."

"She does," Pod had to admit, smiling slightly. He wasn't about to begrudge Arrietty a birthday kiss as long as it would go no farther. He handed the boots to Spiller who slipped them on.

"Soft enough," Spiller admitted. "Got to get used to them, though. Usually don't wear any until winter."

"I think I'll make you another pair for winter, a heavier pair, if you can get me some fur to line them with. Now these, I'd definitely save 'em for fall," Pod acknowledged. "Not good for getting in and out of your boat. How was your trip?" He sat down at the table with them, and the young people had to move their handholding under it.

"Did all right. No problems. Daubery sent rice, matches, spices and greetings."

"Sateen and the girls all right?" Pod asked casually.

"Right as rain," Spiller answered. "Spent the evening telling Actina stories about Little Fordham." He glanced at Arrietty. "You'd of been proud of me. Not much of a storyteller I am, but you've helped me learn."

"I miss telling stories to Timmis," Arrietty said wistfully, running her free hand through her new hairdo, making Spiller itch to touch it. "Spiller says he might go see Aunt Lupy in a few weeks." She looked over at him. "Will you tell Timmis I said hello?"

"You don't want to come?" Spiller asked.

"Not if you have so many other places to go," Arrietty said regretfully. "I'd better not."

"Ask her if she's spare Homily some honey," Pod said, "and some wax for candles."

"Will do," Spiller said. "Plan on doing some hunting and taking her some meat and maybe some of that blue yarn if you can spare a few more skeins of it. Can trade for that, and if we take another run to the mill before I go there, we can get some more flour. Lupy probably needs it. Groundskeepers ain't known for their baking."

Homily came in then with a big bowl of cornmeal mush, and a pot of tea. She set it down on the table and as Spiller ate they all talked for awhile of doings at Little Fordham. Because Miss Menzies had made them all the blankets and quilts they could possibly use, Homily and Pod thought the ones that she had made from the dropped baby jacket could be moved to the mill along with their coin plates and some more bottle tops for cooking pots. They had no need for such things at the Crown and Anchor. Their every need had been supplied.

Pod and Spiller went to the boat after Spiller' late breakfast, and they unloaded everything he had brought them from Daubery's house. As they stored away Spiller's trade goods in the little pantry off the kitchen he and Pod debated on what they could use for a cooking stove once they got settled in at the mill. Spiller promised to keep an eye out for something.

"Wish we could find one of them door locks like Lupy had," Homily said enviously, pinning up her hair, which had started to come down as she had worked over the heat of the stove.

"Not so easy to find," Spiller said with a shrug. He and Pod and Arrietty went back into the front of the pub and sat for awhile as he told them in detail about how Daubery's girls had liked the shoes and about his plans for the rest of the summer.

"I wish Lupy could see how we're fixed," Homily said with a sigh. "She'd be pea green with jealousy."

"Now, Homily," said Pod. "Let it go."

She shrugged and got up from the table. Afternoon was getting on and she had to get back to the kitchen. Pod went upstairs to work on shoes, and Arrietty and Spiller just sat holding hands and talking quietly. Spiller admitted to her that Daubery had tried to fix him up with Hemiola again, and that he had once and for all scotched any thought the old man might have had of him as a son-in-law.

Arrietty looked down at her hands. "I feel sorry for her. Really sorry. I can't imagine any girl being around you, Spiller, and not loving you."

"Oh, go on," he exclaimed. "I've known her since she was a little girl. She's more like a sister to me and she always was."

"That doesn't mean she didn't love you," Arrietty answered sharply. "Look at Miss Menzies and her dear Aubrey."

"I'd rather look at you," Spiller said, and leaned in for another birthday kiss.

On the pretext of going to check his moorings late in the afternoon he went to Mr. Pott's house. Mr. Pott and Miss Menzies had gone out to dinner together at the real Crown and Anchor but Spiller found a small box wrapped with the narrowest of blue ribbon beside the door. Miss Menzies, with her nimble fingers had constructed a tiny, finely crafted gift box for the necklace, and included another box, larger, but just as carefully constructed, and tied with narrow pink ribbon. Spiller wondered what it was, but was afraid to try to untie it and look. He wasn't sure he'd ever get it back the way she had it so he had to take it as it was.

When he came into the kitchen with the packages, Arrietty clapped her hands with delight and spun about like a little girl. Spiller was relieved. She hadn't turned completely into a sedate lady after all. When she opened the smaller box and saw the necklace she was delighted.

"Put it on me," she commanded, and he obliged, slipping it over her head. It settled around her neck, gleaming. "It's lovely."

"Wasn't that hard to make," he said bashfully.

"The other package was an exquisite white apron with tiny lace around the edge. "Just the thing for helping me in the kitchen," Homily said, admiring it. "Wherever did you get it, Spiller?"

"A friend made it for me," he said truthfully.

They had a wonderful dinner of stew, biscuits, and birthday cake. Afterwards Spiller said he had to get going. He wanted to travel down the river to the stove by night. Pod and Homily wished him well and Arrietty walked down to his boat with him. When he was ready to set off, Arrietty kissed him goodbye, and he almost wanted to stay, but he'd let his regular routine go for too long. Ever since Arrietty had come back from the attic he'd done everything differently than he normally did. He was almost looking forward to being on his own for a bit again. He knew he had to decide which life he really wanted.

There were gypsies in camp but Spiller didn't see Mild Eye's wagon. He was glad for that. He was tempted to make a lightning fast raid on the caravan, but something held him back. He'd never thought about danger before but now he was thinking of what would happen to Arrietty if he never came back. He just slipped into the stove instead. His stove needed a good cleaning, especially in the flue area and he brushed it out, but in the middle of doing so, he knew he was changed for good. Prior to sharing a house with Homily he wouldn't have cared so much. He examined the pin holes in the gas pipe, and saw they were all still burning normally. When it got dark he picked a few wild strawberries to fill him up and went out to hunt.

He brought down two mice and skinned them with the half nail scissor he'd gotten from Pod. He slept in the flue in his quilt, and had a rather restless night. Getting soft, he thought to himself, as he tossed and turned and finally fell into a fitful sleep.

In the morning while the gypsy men were out checking their snares and the women were in their wagons, cooking and humming familiar songs, he wrapped the meat in dock leaves to keep it clean and make it easier to transport and went back to his boat. When he got to the gamekeeper's cottage no one was home downstairs but the log box was pulled out.

Spiller left the meat in the hall and went up the ladder to get help carrying it up. Hendreary heard him coming and called to Halberd, Arrietty's oldest cousin, to help. They got the carcasses up the ladder without much trouble, and Lupy came out wiping her hands to see what there was.

"Smoke this for me?" Spiller asked. "Split it as usual."

"Of course," said Lupy. "I was wondering when I'd see you. My, how you've grown up. You get taller every time I see you. Do you want me to measure you for winter clothes while you're here?"

Spiller nodded. "Know it's early, but I've got lots to do this summer. Pod's moving into an old mill downriver and I said I'd help'em get it straight."

"Pod!" Lupy shrieked. "You mean they're alive?"

"As lively as you could expect," Spiller said, "and Homily and Arrietty, too. I have some more things in my boat that they sent you."

"Can you imagine that," Hendreary said, relieved. "What valiant souls they are."

Eggletina came and laid a soft hand on Spiller's arm and smiled at him. Her eyes were full of mischief. "And what of Arrietty?"

Spiller grinned at her. "Just had her seventeenth birthday party. Turning into quite a lady she is. We sort of have an understanding. I've spoken to Pod and perhaps next summer we'll settle things when she's eighteen and I'm twenty."

At this Eggletina threw her arms around Spiller's neck. "I knew it! I knew if you found her you'd sort it all out! Congratulations to the both of you. I hope you'll be very happy." Hendreary and Lupy both gasped in shock.

"Can't believe it," Hendreary said, dazed. "Can't believe little Arrietty's already going on eighteen. I remember when she was born. She was the prettiest baby I'd ever seen."

"Makes a fair lady, too," Spiller acknowledged. "Think we'll suit just fine once we have a bit of time to get used to the idea."

"Oh, my," Lupy said, sitting down quite hard on the nearest chair. "Oh, my, my. You ragamuffin! I never thought I'd live to see the day when you'd settle down!" Thinking hard she had to admit, however, "I knew she fancied you, though. She talked about you all the time when they were here. We'll have to have a nice luncheon together to celebrate. Spiller, you must stay. You won't say no, will you?"

"I'll stay," He told her. "Haven't had a bite since last night. Just let me go get the rest of the things."

"I'll help you," Halberd told him and Spiller shrugged. They went down the ladder to the sound of Eggletina laying out plates as Lupy rummaging through her cupboards. Halberd didn't say anything else until they were outside and on the way to the boat. Then he said quite a lot.

"You're so lucky, finding Arrietty like you did."

"I think so, too," Spiller agreed.

"I wish I could find someone," Halberd said viciously. "I'm so sick of that house. It's hot and it's crowded, and Pa treats me like a baby, even though I'm twenty-one. I'd give anything for a home of my own. I'd live in a hole in the ground if it would just be a home of my own with a family of my own but where in the world can I find a girl? I don't even know any other borrowers except you and the cousins."

Spiller stopped short and looked at Halberd. He was tall, even taller than Spiller and had broad shoulders. He was an excellent house borrower, and knew how to borrow outdoors in a pinch. An idea began to perk in his head. "How you would like to go on a trip with me Halberd? I think I know just the place for you to go!"

Halberd looked at Spiller puzzled, as Spiller handed him the skeins of yarn. "You mean it?"

"Mean it," Spiller assured him. "Think I can solve two problems at one go. But don't say nothing until I do."

Halberd agreed to this. Looking more cheerful than Spiller had ever seen him look he helped Spiller carry his things back to the house. Halberd had always been rather surly and Spiller had thought him dull. He hadn't realized how much Halberd had been chafing under Hendreary's control.

Lupy agreed to send honey and wax to the cousins. She was pleased to get the yarn, saying immediately that she would make socks and jumpers with it. Spiller grinned at that, thinking of what it would be like if the whole family were lined up in matching blue socks and pullovers. That wasn't likely to happen, though. He couldn't see Homily ever wanting to come and visit Lupy again, although Arrietty might like that, provided the visit was a short one.

They had dandelion salad, soup, and fresh green peas. Hendreary toasted Spiller and Arrietty with Lupy's dandelion wine. They made merry, telling stories of Arrietty's childhood. Spiller decided for his own good that he'd better spend the night. They gave him leave to go up and sleep it off in the two rooms on the next floor up. When Spiller collapsed into the bed on the floor, which was more to his liking than the doll bed, it still smelled like Arrietty. Before he went to sleep he realized what he had done, exactly the thing he hadn't wanted to do, committed himself and probably irrevocably. If he broke it off with Arrietty now, the Hendrearies would be furious with him, especially Eggletina, who had done so much to encourage him when Arrietty was gone. But as he went under he decided that it wasn't so bad after all.

In the morning everyone slept late. When Spiller went downstairs to dunk his slightly heavy head in cold water and rinse out his mouth, only Timmis was at the table. He'd cut himself a few slices of cold roast chestnut, and eaten them with strawberry jam for breakfast. Spiller gave him a slight smile, surprised at how much the boy had grown. When Spiller went to poke the fire and put the kettle on, thinking that for once in his life he wanted nothing more than a cup of hot tea, Timmis spoke, sounding slightly wondering.

"Are you really going to marry Arrietty?"

"Looks that way," Spiller said, passing up the silver thimble with a beehive and some strange squares on it that he thought just might be Masonic, and took a china one decorated with forget me nots, that he found slightly less depressing. He then rummaged about for some sugar.

"I miss her. I miss her telling me stories." Timmis looked back down at his plate.

"She misses you, too, mate. How about if I bring her back for a visit before the summer is over?"

Timmis brightened. "I'd like that."

Spiller had the tea made when Lupy came in, her hand to her head. "Oh, you blessed boy," she said with feeling. "You put the kettle on!"

"Did," said Spiller. "And Timmis cut a chestnut."

Lupy looked over at that, and shuddered. "I think I'll toast that. Timmis, dear, please go and get the butter. I don't feel like anything sweet this morning."

Gradually everyone wandered in, some showing the effects of the previous night's party more than others. Halberd had not indulged too much and was in the best shape. He was like a tightly wound watch, keeping his eyes on Spiller, hoping that Spiller hadn't changed his mind about taking him away from the groundskeeper's cottage.

After awhile Lupy recovered enough to measure Spiller for his new clothes, and Hendreary promised to get a moleskin as soon as possible, so that she would have the clothing done when autumn came. Then they all sat around and listened as Spiller told them a little more about what Pod and Homily and Arrietty were up to, and what their moving plans were.

"I knew that Homily would never last at that model village with all of those humans about on those paths," Lupy declared.

"Nice setup, though," Spiller told her, and began to describe Vine Cottage and the Crown and Anchor. He told them about the iron cookstoves, and the eiderdowns. He showed them his quilt and told them about all of the bedrooms, how they were different colors with quilts and blankets to match. He told Lupy about the washstands and chamber pots. When she heard about all of the tables with the flatware, matching china, and glassware, he thought she was going to faint. He'd have to tell Homily about this, he thought. She'd be so pleased at the way he'd made Lupy jealous. Homily certainly didn't need champagne cork stools anymore.

They had a dinner of tea, smoked minnow, and split a couple of green beans. When Spiller was packing up the wax and honey he asked Lupy if he could take them to some other customers, and pick up the load for the cousins on the way back. Then he asked Halberd if he would like to come with to help him load and unload.

"A trip with you? How long would he be gone?" Lupy asked, surprised. "You never need help"

"Few days, maybe. I think these people will like him. They miss having others about. They're lonely, sort of, and I'm not much company."

"Oh, let him go," Hendreary said. "I'll be fine and it'll be good for them. It was different for us when we were young. There were so many others about. He's at that age where a bit of change might do him good."

That, Spiller thought, is an understatement.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Two

The History of Spiller

When he left Vine Cottage he could hear the motor car pulling away. Spiller made a bold decision. He got the handkerchief and took it back to Homily who fell at once to cutting it up. Then he headed back out. He really didn't fear Mr. Pott anymore than he did Miss Menzies, so this time when he went to the kitchen door he stepped inside. Mr. Pott was sitting at the table with his wooden leg extended out. All of that walking about with the young couple and the children must have tired him. Miss Menzies was washing up the tea things at the sink. Spiller took a deep breath, and in as loud as shout as he had made since he told Pod to cut Mild Eye's fishing line, said, "EXCUSE ME!"

Miss Menzies jumped, dropping a dish into the sink, and Mr. Pott's head snapped round. "Land sakes!" he cried. "Look here, Margaret. It's another one, as bold as brass!"

"Spiller? Oh, my word! It's Spiller, isn't it?" Miss Menzies said, looking as if she were about to faint.

"Yes'm, it's me. Might I have a word with you?" He stood just inside the door, ready to jump down and run if he'd misjudged them. It would be tricky but he couldn't see Miss Menzies making good time in her skirt, or Pott on his wooden leg, either. He glanced toward the sink. "Is the dish all right? Didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine. It didn't break." She put down the dishtowel, and turned all the way around to face him. "Whatever are you doing here, Spiller? Arrietty said you hated being seen, and while I thought I saw a glimpse of you several times, I never saw you clearly." She looked carefully then at his dark hair, dark eyes, and the teasing v-shape of his mouth that Arrietty had described so clearly. "What's become of them, Spiller? Do you know? We've been so worried."

Spiller leaned on the doorframe and told them about how the family had been kidnapped by humans who wanted to put them on display, how they'd been taken over the river and held prisoner in an attic all winter, how they had escaped out the window when spring had come and returned to Little Fordham. He didn't go into the balloon. He hardly thought it necessary, although Arrietty had been proud of it and wanted Miss Menzies to know.

Pott slammed his hand on the table. "Knew whoever it was had come in the back way. No way them devils could have gotten through the house."

Miss Menzies' eyes were filled with tears. "Thank goodness they made it back. I never heard the like of this! But are they all right now? No one is hurt?"

"No ma'am, not hurt. But Pod, he's done with humans," Spiller said honestly. "He plans to move on as soon as he finds a new place to live. Made Arrietty promise never to talk to human beings again. Don't trust any humans anymore. He's afraid that other lot, finding them gone, will just try to come back and steal them again. He'll never be easy in Vine Cottage any more. Don't know if that's right or wrong, but he's determined. Arrietty did promise but she cried like a tot when she had to do it. So I said I'd come and tell you what happened. That made her feel better, that and I told her we could come back and visit the village of an evening now and then. I can bring her down in me boat."

Miss Menzies' shoulders drooped. "I can't blame Pod. What they must have gone through. I'd hate human beings, too, if I were him."

"Oh, he don't hate you," Spiller assured her, stepping a bit further into the room. "No hate. Just doesn't think any good comes from trying to live too close with strange humans knowing where you're at. Them others are bound to think they came back to the cottage once they figure out they got away. Anyway, now you know. I wish Arrietty could have told you all this. She would have you know, if she hadn't promised."

Mr. Pott nodded. "A promise is a promise, especially to yer dad. Now me dad told me once…"

"Oh, Abel, I'd love to hear all about him, but I'm sure Spiller needs to get back" Miss Menzies interrupted. "They're probably worried sick that we have him in a shrimping net, just like those others." She looked at Spiller. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

He nodded. "I wouldn't say no to a couple of those round headed pins. Homily needs 'em. She grinds down the points you see and uses 'em for knitting needles. A real needle would help, too, if you got a spare small one. She wants to make some new clothes for the new place. A needle and some thread…got any white?"

"Oh, yes, yes, I do!" Miss Menzies said. "You mean quilting pins. I have some here actually. After I got done making those quilts for Vine Cottage I made another one just for fun and then was doing some mending for Abel." She left the room for a moment, and Mr. Pott and Spiller just stared at each other.

"She's a good woman," Abel Pott said finally, leaning forward. "She'd never have hurt you lot."

"I know," said Spiller. "She took care of them best she could. Guess she's taking care of you the same, as best as she can." His mouth turned back up at the corners then, and Mr. Pott laughed.

"You're a cheeky little devil, but you're right. Just been sad over your lot, that's what's been hard. Sick and sad, and I never thought she'd get over it or I'd ever hear the end of it. You kept your promise to Arrietty. Will you keep one to me?"

"If I can, "Spiller said uncertainly.

"You come back to visit, you bring Arrietty around, see? That will please them both. She might've promised not to speak to Margaret, but that doesn't mean she can't hear!"

Spiller thought about this, and grinned. "See your point. I do. It's a deal, then."

Miss Menzies came back into the room with a basket full of sewing supplies. She picked out a spool of white thread, the shortest needle she could find, and she stuck four pins of just the right sort carefully in under the edge of the thread. Setting the basket aside on the floor next to the wall, she spread out a scrap of calico, and set the spool in the center. Carefully bringing up the edges, she made a bundle, which she carefully slid onto one of the wooden skewers she used to spread glue into tight spots when she was doing woodworking.

Spiller watched her with interest, his eyes drawn to the sewing basket. She had a lovely thimble with a dotted design on the top and a leaf design around the edge. "That's pretty," he said. "Me mum had a favorite thimble she used to drink out of. It had spots like that on the top, but it had roses around the bottom."

When Miss Menzies was done the package looked like a hobo's bag. "Can you carry this, Spiller, without hurting yourself?"

"Think so," he said, eying it. She set it down slowly and carefully on the floor about a foot away from him and backed away. She didn't want to frighten him. When he picked it up and hefted it over his shoulder it was heavy but manageable. He didn't have that far to go, after all. "Thanks," he said.

"Thank you, Spiller," she answered. "I want you to have this as well." She held out something colorful, tightly rolled up and tied on both ends with a scrap of yarn. "It's the extra quilt I made. I want you to have it. I know how hard this must have been for you and I appreciate it more than I can say. Give all my love to Arrietty and tell her I miss her. I know how much she trusts you so I trust you, too. I trust you to take care of her."

'I try, but she don't always make it easy," he said with a wink. "Thanks again." He tucked it under his arm and told them goodbye.

Miss Menzie's stood in the doorway and watched him go. She looked back at Mr. Pott with a sigh. "How nice he is, as nice as Arrietty said he was. He reminds me of dear Aubrey."

"Nice of you, my dear, to give him that quilt."

She shook her head, her eyes bright with tears. "I was going to make a whole lot of things, sort of a hope chest. I thought perhaps when Arrietty got a little older she and Spiller would choose one of the other houses. I know that's what Arrietty was hoping for. You could tell how much Spiller meant to her by the way she talked about him. No use now. They're all going. It's such a shame. Homily would have been so happy in Vine Cottage and Arrietty and Spiller could have set up housekeeping nearby and we'd all have been happy together."

"At least now we know what happened," Abel Pott said. "That's something, and he did promise to come back and see us. Maybe things will settle down eventually and they can come back to live. The fence should hold off most anything, but you never know."

"No," said Miss Menzies. "You never do." Then she brightened. "Abel, if they're afraid of the ones that took them before coming back I think I know how to help but we'll have to work fast."

"Ain't good at working fast," he said, shaking his head.

"What if part of it is something that's already mostly done and the rest is something you've done before?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "What have you got in mind, Margaret?"

Homily was delighted with the sewing supplies and the calico it came in was a treasure. They all admired Spiller's new quilt. Homily said the pattern was called bricks and cobblestones. "What a job she must have had, that Miss Menzies, to do this with those big hands of hers. At least now, though, Spiller has one of his own." She glanced over at Arrietty, who was ladling soup into bowls, and smiled slyly. Arrietty didn't meet her glance. She kept her head down and kept spooning the soup.

As they sat down to dinner, they made Spiller tell them the whole story of his visit to Mr. Pott's cottage three times before they were satisfied with it.

"I figured they put up the fence because of what happened," said Pod. "Stood to reason that was the only way someone could have gotten in. You didn't tell them where we were going did you?"

"No," said Spiller firmly. "You still want to go check out the mill tomorrow? Now that Homily and Arrietty have something to keep them busy they won't spend the day fretting over us. Might be a good day to do it."

"I think so," Pod answered.

"Would you mind being away overnight? I want to get some flour and cornmeal while we're there, and there's a family a little bit further down river that could probably use some, too. I haven't been making the rounds like I usually do. They could put us up for the night, and we could come home next day."

"S'pose we could," said Pod slowly. "We do keep you off your normal routine at times. I think Arrietty and her mother could do without us for one night."

So that is what they did. They went to bed early so as to get an early start in the morning, and Spiller found his quilt to be just as comfortable as Arrietty's. The only difference was that he planned on taking his with him when they left Little Fordham. Homily made him and Pod a breakfast of tea and toast, and she and Arrietty wished their men a fond farewell. Spiller and Pod went to the fence, slipped through and headed down the river in Spiller's knife box boat. Spiller was hoping to find some more food along the way. The bread had been fine when he had brought it to the cottage, but it was only fit for toast at that point.

"What ever happened to your soap box boat?" Pod asked.

Spiller gave him a long look. He never had gotten used to answering questions. He liked to keep his private business private, but finally he decided he was being silly. "She's well hid further down river. When I'm planning on a lot of cargo this one is better. For traveling light the soap box is better."

"Won't the miller see us coming up on the place?" Pod asked, worried.

"No," Spiller said, steering carefully with the butter knife he used for an oar. "Goes away in the spring to see his children and grandchildren. Come winter, does his repairs on the mill. In the fall, he's running day and night keeping up with the harvest. In the spring shuts down for a couple of weeks as soon as the weather's nice and does his visiting. No one should be there at all. Be locked up tight as a drum it will be. Have to go underneath this time. This boat just fits. There's other ways, but right now this is easiest when the mill is closed."

Pod shuddered as they went under the great wheel, imaging what a disaster it would be if it were turning. But Spiller was right. They just fit under and were able to pull up and tie up without much trouble.

The mill was everything Pod had hoped it would be. One old human and a regular routine appealed to him. He wasn't as adverse to the outdoors a Homily was, but he'd been brought up as a house borrower, and he still felt the most comfortable indoors.

Spiller had stayed at the mill on and off over the years and gave Pod a pretty fair tour. As they walked around, they picked up things, scraps of wood, wire, and string, among them. It reminded Pod a bit of the gamekeeper's cottage when it has been emptied of humans. Spiller was able to point out the different types of machinery that the mill used to make the flour and corn meal, and even had figured out pretty much how the machinery worked and how the materials traveled throughout the mill by way of lifts, pulleys and belts, which he thought would interest Pod. He knew how handy Pod was and admired him for it.

Spiller also showed Pod some of the older equipment that had been retired. The room where that was stored had a loose board and led to some good sized spaces out of sight beneath the floor. That is where they took the borrowings and began laying out how the new home would be.

Spiller had made a bedroom/storage room for himself in one section next to the wall and the large space he'd claimed was filled with odds and ends including a pile of burlap sacks just borrower size.

"A friend of mine borrowed the big bag," Spiller commented, as he gathered up an armful, and his wife cut it up into smaller ones for me. I have bags stashed in several of my places. Have 'em when I need them. We can put up shelves and then separate the storage area from where I sleep. Homily would like it better if I wasn't sleeping in the storeroom when she's here. Don't mind knocking the space into two rooms. Mine doesn't have to be too big."

There were several other sections that made decent sized rooms. Pod could see them easily leaving Spiller a small space for when he needed it and still having a decent bedroom for him and Homily with another for Arrietty plus a fairly nice sized combination dining and living room. It would be like old times. They would be under the floor again where they belonged.

"Here in the hall after the storeroom area and my space," Spiller said, pointing when they began to rough things out, "you're up against a fireplace. If we can find something to use for a stove, that would be the best place for a kitchen. We can pick a hole open to put a pipe in and send your smoke up the old man's chimney."

Pod walked over and laid his hand on the fireplace casing. "Could do, but what could we use for a stove?"

"We'll have to think about it. I'll have to look around," Spiller admitted. Pod and Spiller both appreciated the construction techniques that were used on the mill.

"Built in 1830," said Spiller, "or so he says," he being the old miller. "I've heard him tell. Proud of the place he is. Made of good hemlock, oak, pine and hickory and lots of good old fashioned square iron nails made in forges by them that knew what they was doing." Spiller glanced around. "Used to be a gathering place for the townsfolk when every farmer grew his own grain. Women used to use the second floor for their weaving looms. Things is different now. Not as good for the human beings to my mind. It's made a lot of them stupid. Not self sufficient anymore, not by a long shot, but better for our kind. Quieter here with just the few carters."

Pod smiled. "Homily will be happier for that, I'm sure."

Spiller stared at Pod, his black eyes almost boring into him. "What about Arrietty, though? She likes outdoors. You told her she could come back to Little Fordham of an evening, that she'd have outdoors instead of just in. Just talk that?"

Pod looked at Spiller uncertainly. "Well, yes we could do but I think once she gets settled in she'll be all right and get used to it, like. Be like it used to be when we was under the floor at Firbank Hall."

Spiller shook his head, the unfairness of it all washing over him and making him impulsive. "She's not that sort, Pod. She's the type that needs air and sun. Now that she's had it you can't take it away. Chain her up and she'll just be another Eggletina. Nice girl, Eggletina. I like her. But she's not had a happy day since they went into the groundskeeper's cottage. It's like that cockroach in a tea strainer you told Arrietty about…the one Hendreary's boy had. Eggletina's just as trapped as that cockroach, and it's sapped the life out of her." He shook his head. "Don't do that to Arrietty. You do and I'll put an end to it."

Pod frowned. "Is that a threat, from you, Spiller my boy?"

"It's a promise," Spiller said, standing tall and throwing caution to the winds. "All that matters to me is she's happy. If she were happy here I'd leave her be, but if I ever think she's not, I'll do me best to make her happy someplace else and you know exactly what I mean. You might not like the sort of life I lead, but she'd like it I think, at least for awhile."

"She's too young to think of leaving us and running off into the wild," Pod exclaimed, running his hat pin along the crack in the floor.

"Aye, she's young. Agree with you there. Always have. Got a bit more growing up to do. Takes longer to mature under a floor than it does when you're brought up to live by your wits. That's right. But I'm willing to wait and see, Pod. I'm willing to wait and hope."

"Hoping isn't getting," Pod pointed out.

"We'll see," Spiller said, thinking about everything that had happened since Mabel and Sidney had come along and since Arrietty's family had escaped their clutches. When they had done all the work they could, He and Pod filled several borrowing bags with flour and several with cornmeal and speculated on how good cornbread or corn mush would taste cooked on the little iron stove back at Vine Cottage. Spiller had a nice lump of butter cooling by the river and had left some tea and sugar at the cottage amongst his other clutter and they had perfect faith in Homily and Arrietty's ability to make something of it

In the old man's kitchen they'd found a forgotten digestive biscuit that made a fair dinner, washed down with water. When it was dark, they set off down river once more. "Daubery and his wife Sateen have five daughters," Spiller said. "They'll make something good from this flour."

"Five!" Pod exclaimed.

"Daughters," Spiller said grimly, "He's disappointed 'bout that. Hemiola is about sixteen. Semplice and Sennet are twins about thirteen. Elegancy is ten and Actina is seven. He's been trying to have a son to go borrowing with, but I don't think he's ever going to. Sateen got very sick after Actina was born. Didn't think she'd make it there for awhile. Personally I think he should just be happy everyone is healthy now."

"I agree, "Pod said, nodding firmly. "Homily and I talked about it once while we were living at the big house. We agreed to teach Arrietty to borrow. If I'd had a boy, I would have taken him, but since we didn't have no boy, I took Arrietty. Didn't work out well, but I tried."

Spiller pulled up in a small hollow, where the river had washed out under part of a tree root. He helped Pod out, and handed out two bags of cornmeal which Pod hoisted onto his back. When he reached for the flour, Spiller shook his head. "I got it." He was tired, but Pod was more tired and Spiller knew it.

Pod managed to get his bags one over each shoulder and they headed up the bank. There was a house there, a nice house, and following Spiller Pod slipped around to the side. A piece of board that had patched up a hole was not nailed down, and setting down the cornmeal bags, Spiller was able to swing it much the way they had done at the gamekeeper's cottage before they saw the ferret. Pod staggered in, set down the bags, and Spiller handed in the other two. Then he came in himself and lowered the board. Picking up the bags again he started down a dusty passage. Pod could see a faint light at the end.

As they trudged down the hall, they heard someone say, "What's that noise?" and then a small voice chirping, "It's Spiller! It must be Spiller!"

A girl appeared in the passage, clapping her hands with delight. "It is! It's Spiller! And someone else, too!"

"Hallo, Tina," said Spiller, dropping a bag to pat her on the head. "You miss me?"

"Always miss you," she said, jumping up and grabbing his arm. Spiller swung her onto his hip. "What did you bring and who's that?"

Spiller laughed. "Cornmeal and flour, and me friend, Pod. Ask your mum if she's got a spot of tea for us. It was a beautiful day but the night is nippy."

He set down the child who hurried back to her door. Standing in it was a small man, a small woman who turned and hurried out of sight, and another girl, bigger than the first one. The man came out and took one of the bags from Spiller. "Good to see you, my boy," he said.

They went into a hole in the wall and Pod followed. It was a bright, cheerful room with a rug made out of braided yarn, and a sofa made from a block of wood. It was padded with some kind of stuffing and tacked all around with brass tacks. There was the usual chest of drawers made of matchbooks that could be found in nearly any house borrower's home. There was an enormous dining table made from a pair of child's blocks, with a piece of wood fastened to the top of them surrounded by eight champagne cork stools.

The father shouted at the twin girls to come and take the bags to the kitchen and so they did, even though they could only carry one at a time. "Girls," he said, "useless girls." He looked Pod up and down and held out his hand. "I'm Daubery. Pleased to meet you. Any friend of Spiller's is a friend of ours. He's almost like one of the family he is. Wish he still was! As he might have told you, I'm short of sons."

"Pod Clock at your service," Pod said, shaking the hand, and looking him up and down just as closely. Daubery was a big plump man, with a neatly trimmed mustache and beard dressed in a roomy pair of black trousers and a white shirt. "I only have one daughter meself. My Arrietty is back with her mother in Little Fordham," Pod told him

"Oh, Little Fordham!" cried Actina. "I wish I could see it someday."

"Someday, perhaps," Spiller said, sitting down on the sofa, but her father shook his head.

"You girls belong at home until you get homes of your own."

The thin, older woman came in then, with hot tea for Pod and Spiller, and a tall thin girl who looked almost exactly like her brought some bowls of warmed up stew, and cakes with jelly. The mother looked worn and pale, except for dark circles under her eyes, and the girl was pale herself with long, straight hair of a medium brown, which was a trait she shared with all of her sisters. They all had straight, shining hair and it was clear that they never spend any time out of doors.

They gave Pod their nicest silver thimble to use as a cup, a pretty one with a vine design going around it. Spiller smiled, and then sighed. He was glad they were being considerate to Pod, but drinking cups made out of thimbles would forever remind him of his mother,

"Thank you, my dear," said Pod. The girl blushed and backed away to sit at the table with her parents and sisters and eat cake. Pod stayed on the couch with Spiller, eating off a small table made from a cedar trinket box that sat in front of the sofa.

"Hemiola makes good cake," Spiller remarked, and set the serving girl to glowing.

When they were done eating Daubery and Spiller settled accounts. In return for the flour and cornmeal, Daubery gave Spiller a big bag of sugar and a big bag of rice, and smaller bags of pepper and salt.

"You can take these things," Spiller told Pod when the deal was done. "Homily and Arrietty can cook with them and I can come and eat with you sometimes."

Then the girls came and sat on the carpet and they all listened to Pod and Spiller tell the story of how Pod's family had been living at Little Fordham, how they had been kidnapped, had escaped, and about the proposed move to the mill. Even the thin mother propped herself on a cork and listened, when she wasn't taking the supper things back out to the kitchen.

When they got to the part about the balloon everyone was on the edge of their seats. "Good thing for us that Arrietty learned to read," said Pod. "Or we'd be in that cage house now. That article in the paper about ballooning saved our lives."

"Yes, well, I can see that," Daubery acknowledged grudgingly, "but for the most part I don't hold with educating borrowers. Makes them too human and girls certainly don't need it."

"Wish I could've seen that balloon, though," said Spiller. "Was never so glad to see anything as I was to see Arrietty coming down that fence. When Pod's lot disappeared it took the wind out of my sails for sure. I missed her."

"She missed you, too," Pod assured him. "She talked about you all the time. We were all glad to see you when we got back to Little Fordham but I really think that mill is the place for us. Plenty water, plenty grain, and if the old man is short sighted so much the better. It'll do me good to be back under a floor. This," said Pod, waving his hand expansively, "is the proper sort of life for a borrower in the end."

"Yes, you'll do better at the mill than in the out of doors," Daubery said. "No good ever comes of being too outdoorsy. I keep telling Spiller that. It's all well and good when you're young but it'll catch up with him eventually. He'll settle down sooner or later in a good house like a proper borrower should."

"We'd miss the things he brings us," said the oldest girl a bit sulkily. "We'd miss you, Spiller."

"Not ready to retire yet," Spiller said, "except for the night." He glanced at his host. "Think we could have a bed? Have to be off early, but can't go back now. We've been busy all day."

"The back bedroom is yours anytime you want it, lad," Daubery said. "You know that, and your guest is welcome. Feel free, Pod, to wash up at the tap in the kitchen if you wish."

Pod did wish, and Sateen took him in to show him where it was while Spiller ran down to check on his boat and get Pod's spare clothing and his quilt. "Spiller isn't one for a wash up," she said amused, hearing him go down the hallway. She pulled a plug from a water pipe to pour Pod a bowl of water and he felt such a wave of homesickness he sighed.

"We used to live in a house like this, under the floor. But we was seen and we had to go. As for Spiller, well, it's part of his cover not to wash," answered Pod, accepting the scraps of material she gave him to use as a washcloth and towel when he washed his face and hands. "Those outdoor borrowers make themselves look like the outdoors. Can't even see Spiller against the ground unless he wants you to." He breathed in and said in delight, "Sandalwood soap!"

"Spiller found it in a drain, so he says. I was glad to get it," Sateen told him. "Daubery has a hard time getting any farther up than the kitchens here."

"Must be the drain we used when we left from visiting my brother-in-law and his wife," said Pod. "They live on the other side of Holmcraft. They have three boys and a girl and live in a groundskeeper's cottage. Eggletina, the girl, she's the oldest. Halberd, the oldest boy is next and a bit older than Spiller, I think, and Grego is about your Hemiola's age. The youngest boy is Timmis. He'd be about eight or nine now. Thank you," said Pod, holding out the wet towel.

"Nice to know we're not the only big family left," said Sateen, taking back the towel.

"My Arrietty should meet your girls some day," Pod said. "She's always going on about how we're dying out. It bothers her that she doesn't know too many others. It was different when we lived at Firbank Hall when I was a boy. There was borrowers from the stables to the rain pipe, from the kitchen to the mantelpiece. We used to have parties and the cousins all knew each other. Not like that now. She gets lonely. It was a relief when we met Spiller. He's been a great help to us and Arrietty enjoys being with him. He taught her to fish, and took her riding on the trains in the town, and he helped her plant her garden. I don't know what we'd do without him."

"Everyone loves Spiller," Sateen said tightly.

They heard a slight noise in the hallway. "That'll be him now. Follow the door off the great room. Spiller's in the last room at the end. You shouldn't need a dip. Our fireplace lights our great room and there's a light above that hallway that they burn all night that shines through the cracks in the floor. We're below the hallway that leads from the maid's room to the kitchen. If the lady of the house needs anything at night, they have to be able to get up and go. They don't want to be stumbling around. The chamber pot is behind the door. I'll have breakfast ready at dawn so you can get an early start before there are too many human beings on the river banks."

"I'm much obliged," Pod told her. When he followed her directions, he found Spiller rolled up in his quilt on a rug made from an old potholder.

"Take the bed," Spiller said, jerking his head. It was a cardboard box lid lined with a mattress made from a linen handkerchief sewn together and stuffed with what felt like fleece. The blanket was made from piece of knitted scarf.

"Nice bed," said Pod.

"I lived here for awhile when I was first on the river," Spiller said. "They've always been nice to me. Just can't stay too long. I get restless and start feeling trapped."

In more ways than one, I'd wager, Pod said to himself, before he dropped off to sleep.

After Pod and Spiller left Vine Cottage, Arrietty held the cardigan flat while her mother cut out the sections she wanted to turn into blankets.

"If I don't make the edging too wide," Homily mused, "I should be able to do three easy using this handkerchief. I want to get them done before we move to the mill so they're ready to use. I'm not sure how long it will take us to set up the rooms there. If we unravel the rest of it and make skeins we can take them with us and I can do the knitting later."

"This would make a hundred skeins!" Arrietty said sharply. "We can't take this whole thing with. There wouldn't be room in the boat for us!"

"Well, we can leave some here," Homily said. "Spiller can bring it as we need it. He did say he was coming back now and then, and I don't blame him. Tomorrow is the first and then the humans will start coming this weekend and there will be plenty of borrowings."

"I want to come back, too, sometimes," Arrietty said. "I want to come back with Spiller to visit."

"I know you do, dear, but once we get settled in the mill there won't be any need. Spiller can handle borrowing in the out of doors and your father will handle it indoors. You won't need to borrow anymore."

"But I want to," exclaimed Arrietty. "I don't want to spend my life indoors knitting. I like indoors and outdoors! I like doing things with Spiller. I still think it would be fun to be married to him someday."

"That's a foolish notion," Homily said sharply, tossing the edge of the handkerchief to Arrietty. "For one thing, you're too young to make that kind of decision. Marriage isn't about fun. It's a commitment. Hold this end down, will you?"

Homily got a better hold, and then went on."I know you like him and he likes you, but another thing is he's just not our sort, Arrietty. I like him. I wish I didn't, but he is likeable, and useful, too, but he's still not our sort."

"That's not fair, Mother," Arrietty said sulkily. "You didn't like it when Aunt Lupy looked down on you, and here you are looking down on Spiller after all he's done for us."

Homily paused right in the middle of cutting a strip of handkerchief. "Are you saying I'm like Lupy? You wicked girl! The things you've gotten into your head since we left Firbank! Those outdoor borrowers aren't the same as house borrowers, whether it's a borrower from under a kitchen or an Overmantle. I'm trying to get past it, Arrietty, I am, but I want better for you."

"There isn't anything better, Mother. I more than like him. I think I could love him, given some time. I really do." Arrietty didn't know why this was such a difficult concept for her mother to grasp. Her father was being so much more practical about it.

"You don't know what love is. Who does at sixteen?" Homily exclaimed.

"I'm nearly seventeen, and you got married at eighteen. I think you're being very unfair. Spiller is wonderful and we'd be wonderful together. You'll see." Arrietty looked down at the strips of handkerchief. "Shall I go and thread the needle?"

"Yes, you'd better," said Homily, dropping the subject gratefully.

They had one blanket edged on two sides before they got too stiff from sitting. A shadow passed by the window, and Homily cried, "What's that?"

Arrietty walked over and looked out. "Miss Menzies just went past. I think she and Mr. Pott are doing a final check before the village opens for visitors."

Homily glanced out the window, too. Miss Menzies was nowhere in sight but there was something in the High Street, something big. "Whatever is that?" Homily wondered.

"A paper bag," said Arrietty. "Shall I go see what's in it?"

"Oh, no," Homily exclaimed. "We don't know where they are. We don't want to be seen again."

Arrietty looked carefully. "If it's not too heavy I could quickly bring it in. If she's dropped it she probably won't know where. It might be something useful." She was beginning to think it was something Miss Menzies had dropped deliberately but she didn't want to tell her mother that.

"Well," Homily vacillated, "be quick about it." She watched as Arrietty ran through the remnants of the garden and got hold of the side of the bag. It toppled onto its side quickly causing Homily to gasp, but Arrietty was obviously not hurt by it and was able to drag it to the back door where with a little pushing and shoving, they got the opening of the bag inside. Arrietty stepped into the bag and looked around.

"Looks like half a lunch," she said. "I see a bunch of grapes with seven left, half a ham sandwich wrapped up, and a chocolate biscuit. Here, take the grapes. Then we can bring in the biscuit and it will be easier to get to the sandwich." When they had all the food in the house and were pushing the bag, it tore. While they managed to save a large piece of the paper, the wind caught the rest, taking it down the street. "Sorry that got away," said Arrietty sadly. "We might have been able to use it for something but now it's just litter."

"Can't be helped" said Homily. "I think we should wash three of these grapes and have them now and save the rest for when your father and Spiller come back. There's just enough."

"Just enough," Arrietty agreed more certain than ever that Miss Menzies had left the food on purpose. She and her mother washed the grapes and cut theirs in quarters, and chopped off a nice slice of sandwich for each of them.

Another shadow passed the window, and Arrietty peeked out to see Mr. Pott carrying a lot of tools. He walked a fair distance down the path, and Arrietty could see Miss Menzies several streets over. She was so far away she looked borrower size.

"I do so wonder what they are up to," Arrietty mused. Homily shrugged.

After they ate they went back to their blanket making and had one done by suppertime. They had another slice of sandwich and broke off a quarter of the chocolate biscuit. Then they managed three sides of a second blanket before bedtime. When Arrietty went to bed, she tugged the quilt tightly around her, remembering the feel of Spiller's arm around her shoulder. Mother has to change her mind about him, Arrietty thought. She just must. Arrietty went to sleep happy.

In the morning they scraped out a bit of the butter from the sandwich and used it to make the last of the dry bread palatable when they toasted it. They wanted to save the fresh bread for when Pod and Spiller came back. Then they finished the second blanket, and bored with sewing, began to unravel some of the yarn and loop it into skeins.

Whatever Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott were doing across the yard, they were going at it great guns. Homily watched them for awhile, too, curious, but they could not tell what was going on.

Pod and Spiller had a heartier breakfast than Homily and Arrietty did. Daubery had borrowed a strip of bacon and a hen's egg from the kitchen, which Sateen and Hemiola cooked for everyone. They cut up the bacon into pieces and fried it, then scrambled the egg in the bacon grease with a bit of milk and pepper. There was plenty for all of them.

"Wonderful breakfast," Pod said with feeling. "There's a lot of good food in a hen's egg. We took a hardboiled egg with us when we left the groundskeeper's cottage and Spiller, Arrietty, Homily and I ate on it for a couple of days."

"I can only get them if I can get at the basket when they first bring them in," Daubery admitted. "After that they get put out of reach. You're still planning on leaving right away?"

"Just got to roll up my quilt and reload the boat," Spiller answered. "We need to get back to Little Fordham by late afternoon. Homily and Arrietty will be fretting if we don't. You sure two bags each of flour and cornmeal is enough for now? Got two more of each in the boat. Was going to give Homily and Arrietty some to work with until we get everything sorted out about the move, and maybe take some down river to Burgonet and Arista." He glanced at Pod. "You ain't met them yet. They're a young couple, just married, down at Went-le-Craye."

"Didn't know anyone else was around there," Pod exclaimed.

"They're around" said Daubery. "Spiller knows most of them, I'd wager. Got a good business he does. Has to make hay while the sun shines, though. He'll have to settle down eventually."

Spiller stood up at that. "Thanks for having us. See you again at some point."

"It was nice to see you again, Spiller," said Sateen. "Come back soon."

"Yes, don't stay away too long," Hemiola said, looking Spiller right in the eyes. She was trying hard to be a dutiful daughter, but it was hard. To her, Spiller was just someone she'd grown up with. He was like one of her family. Her father wanted her to see it differently, though, and she was making an effort, but it was difficult.

He shrugged at her. "Three weeks maybe, or a month." He and Pod packed up their meager gear, and after a last round of goodbyes, headed back to the boat. There was a lovely morning dawning. "Pott has a good day to get ready to open the village," Spiller said. "We'll have to be careful when we get back. He and that Miss Menzies should be gone in by the time we get there, but you never know."

As they pushed off Pod looked back at the hollow where they'd moored. "Nice family that."

"All right," Spiller said shortly. "Was very good to me when I was younger. Good to me, now, they are, but Daubery's too set in his ways. Gets on my nerves sometimes. Don't always like the way he treats Sateen and the girls. Wish he'd get the son he wants but I can't be it."

"Ah," said Pod, understanding completely.

When they got back to Little Fordham they unloaded their gear and headed up toward the village, keeping an eye open for straggling human beings. Homily and Arrietty had finished the third blanket and put together a couple of shawls from the blue yarn while the few first humans of the season had been looking at the village. They were waiting for their men anxiously.

"Well?" Homily asked.

"It'll suit us very well," Pod answered. "Spiller has a room set up in a perfect spot that he uses when he needs a place to stay indoors and there's plenty of space for us in the same area. I think you'll like it. It's under the floor just like we're used to."

"Can we see the river from there?" Arrietty demanded, remembering her grate under the floor at Firbank Hall.

"Not from there," Spiller said, "but aren't you and I going to be nipping back here of an evening to pick up whatever the humans leave lying around?"

She looked at him, her cheeks pink, and her eyes bright. "You meant that? You'll bring me back to visit?" She gave Homily a dark look. "Mother still isn't sure if it's the right thing to do."

"Whenever you like," said Spiller, turning away from her smile, which made him feel unsettled and plunking down in front of the fire. Homily's eyes opened wide and she turned them on Pod, who merely shrugged and handed her the bag of cornmeal. "We have other things in the boat," Spiller added. "I'll bring them up later. I don't want to leave them out there all night."

Homily began to bustle about, showing them the three blankets they'd completed as Arrietty was setting out grapes and ham sandwich for all.

"This really is nice, fine yarn," Spiller said fingering a blanket, causing Homily to grit her teeth to keep from mentioning the fact that his hands probably weren't clean. "My friend Arista would like this. I'd like to take a few skeins to her and her husband to trade for other supplies."

"Go ahead," Homily said. "We've got plenty. Sorry there's nothing hot," she added, looking over at the table "but we've got chocolate biscuit for dessert." She then said sadly how she really would miss the lovely little stove and couldn't they take it with them.

"I don't think so," Pod said kindly, sitting at the table. It's fastened in there pretty well, and anyway, if we do come back for a visit we'll need it then. We'll have to think of something else for you to use at the mill."

"Until we do," Spiller said suddenly, "cold food will have to do. Nothing wrong with cold food. Can't be having any fires that you can't control." He paused slightly, and then throwing caution to the winds, added, "That's how I lost me family."

"Your family?" Arrietty spun about from where she was helping Homily warm up the leftover soup from the night before. "Do you mean your mother?" He had mentioned his mother to her a few times and she was dying to know more.

"All of 'em," said Spiller grimly.

He had, he told them in halting sentences, grown up in a hunting lodge that belonged to an old couple with two sons. They came out every spring to fish and every fall to have shooting parties, and the family would all gather at Christmas. When they were in residence the borrowings came easier, although it was a bit nerve wracking to borrow and not be seen, but Spiller's father was an expert borrower. Occasionally the sons would bring their families out at other times, but often weeks could go buy with no human inhabitants, so Spiller's father learned to borrow from the out of doors and from the time Spiller could walk, he took Spiller out of doors, too.

"Started learning to fish when I was three. Dad started teaching me to use a bow at four. That was when Mum had my sister, Larkspur. Dad needed help so he said but think he just wanted me out of the house so Mum could have some peace and quiet," he told them. When I was six my sister Caledula was born. Started helping my dad skin game then. Had a little tunnel down by the river to do that. Was nine and learning how to handle a boat when Mum had Orlaya."

When Homily gasped, and cried, "Oh, my!" he smiled ruefully, the corners of his mouth turned up into the teasing smile they all knew so well.

"Mum liked flowers and named the girls after them. What can I say?" He paused for a moment, thinking. "When I was eleven Mum was having another baby. If it was a boy, she was going to name it Basil and if it were another girl, she was going to name it Angelonia. I think me Dad was hoping for another boy but he never told her that. He wasn't like some," Spiller said, giving Pod a meaningful look. "He said as long as it was healthy he would be fine with it whatever it was."

That's as it should be," Pod interjected, slapping his hand on the table. "You get what you get when it comes to that." He also had been saddened by the way Daubery treated his daughters.

Spiller nodded ruefully, and then frowned trying to remember. "Was spring. The whole human family was there. Dad wanted me to go out at dusk and bring back some vegetables. Was usually safe enough then when the humans were there for fishing parties. They got up early to go fishing so went to bed early. The radishes and scallions were especially good that year. Dad said it would be a treat for Mum to have some fresh food. He couldn't go. He was busy keeping the little ones quiet. It was hard for them to be quiet when the family was about. He used to tell them stories for hours. Left him there with the girls. Mum was trying to do some cooking even though she didn't feel well. She said her back'd been hurting her. Me and dad thought the baby was getting ready to come. He kept scolding her, telling to keep her skirts away from the fire."

Pod, Homily and Arrietty thought about this, a little boy going out to provide for his family, and understood better how resourceful he must have been even at such an early age.

"When I crept out could hear some of the human men in the kitchen. They'd sneaked down for some ale and a smoke. I could smell their pipes. I was glad to get outside. T'was one of the finest nights I'd ever seen. Looked at the stars and the moon and felt happier than I'd ever felt. Finally went back to the garden and began to look at the radish plants. I knew how to pick the best."

Spiller closed his eyes and they all waited with baited breath for the rest of the story. "When I had all I could carry I started back through the garden rows. As I got close to the house I thought I heard an odd noise, a popping noise, but didn't think much of it. When I got nearer though, it got louder. I seen and smelled the smoke then."

"Oh, no, Arrietty whispered, "oh, no, no."

Spiller looked at her, his black eyes catching the light from the cookstove. "I don't know if the fellows in the kitchen started it with their pipes or poking at the kitchen fire. They had been drinking pretty hard. Maybe one of the girls dropped a dip or maybe one of the other kids grabbed ahold of me dad and pulled him off balance. Mum could even have caught her skirt for real. She was as big as a house at that point. Anyway, the house was afire and I heard someone ringing the bell by the kitchen door. Servants came running. There was a lot of yelling and the smoke was fierce. I coughed and coughed. I had to back away, clear to the rear edge of the garden. The fire caused shadows that gathered all around the house. It sounded just like whenever a big beastie crawled through the undergrowth at Dad's hole in the woods by the river where he skinned the game. All I could see was smoke black enough to suffocate a body, and sullen yellow flames spreading up to the roof."

They all sat spellbound, horrified at the mental picture of a little black eyed boy hiding in a garden in the night watching his home burn.

"Had to get away from the heat and humans rushing about, so I went to Dad's camp. I knew that's where he would go if he could. I fell asleep in the tunnel smelling like a wood stove."

Spiller paused, sighed, and shook his head. "When I woke up I got some water. My throat hurt from the smoke. Then I crept back to the house to see what was left. Some of the humans were out on the front lawn talking to each other. I don't know how many got out and how many didn't."

He paused again, thinking. "I couldn't get into where our place used to be. I tried, but it was pretty much gone. I hung around for a few days, hoping Dad or Mum or one of the girls would turn up but never seen any of them. Finally gave up and lit out, just jumped in me dad's boat and headed down river. I found a family living near Holmcraft, the ones Pod and I went to see after we left the mill. Daubery and his wife, Sateen took me in for a few days but they had three daughters at the time that reminded me too much of the girls for me to be easy in my mind there. I liked them. Still do, but I wanted to be alone. So I set off along the river staying wherever I liked as long as I liked. Caught minnows, hunted game, and gave some to Sateen. She took care of me when I needed it. Lived like that a couple of years."

He perked up and smiled then. "I had just found that old stove and got settled into it when I ran across Hendreary and his family living in the badger's set. We got to be friends. By then I had a regular route and they used to ask me to pick up things for them, like tea and matches and other things they couldn't get for themselves. Then the foxes came."

He wrinkled his nose as if he could smell them. "I found them Hendrearys running away. They only just made it. They come to the gypsies camp hoping the foxes would still smell the human scent and wouldn't follow them any further. They wanted to see, too, if there was anything worth picking over at the campsite. I showed them my stove, offered them a bite to eat. They stayed two years. It was nice at first to have the boys to talk to. Halberd was a lot of fun and Timmis was a nice little boy. He made me wonder what it would have been like if I'd finally had a little brother, but it all got to be too much."

"Lupy certainly tends to have that effect on people," Homily said.

"Now, Homily, don't start that again!" Pod exclaimed.

Spiller grinned, and then shrugged. "I dunno. I started watching young Tom and then we talked. I checked out the gamekeeper's cottage, and finally got Lupy and Hendreary to move there. She was afraid of young Tom. T'was that pillowcase full of food and furniture that finally convinced them. In the end Lupy wanted a real home again so she'd have a place to use it. I helped them move, taking a bit at a time. They finally got settled in."

There was silence for a moment, and then Homily walked up behind Spiller and threw her arms around him in a huge hug that startled him and set his cheeks to blazing. "You poor dear boy," Homily said. "What you've been through! I've never heard the like of it!"

Pod gave her an odd look, which Arrietty understood. Homily was like that about Spiller. As a prospective son-in-law, she was skeptical, but when she looked at him as just a lost boy she could be very sweet.

Arrietty took him a nice big piece of chocolate biscuit. She'd never heard Spiller talk so much and sensed it was for her. She wanted to hug him, kiss him, and cry for him, but just as the feeling was about to overcome her he and Pod left to bring back the rest of the things from the boat. She just knew he'd wanted her to know who and what he was, and she was glad of it. She thought she understood him so much better after hearing his story. That had to be a good thing.

It seemed to her that you ought to get to know the person you were going to marry, and she was more sure than ever she wanted to marry him but her parents would have to get more used to the idea, and as Homily had said, Arrietty would have to tie him down a bit. Arrietty wasn't sure if he was ready to be tied down, and even if he was, how in the world she was going to do it. She didn't want to change him. She liked him exactly as he was, but she had a nagging suspicion that marriage was the exact sort of thing that changed everyone. She'd have to give it some thought.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Back at Little Fordham, everyone had a nice long rest after the trip. Spiller was happy to sleep well, eat well, and listen to Pod and Homily discuss plans for their new home at the mill, offering suggestions when he could, but he knew he was overdue for a trip down to Burgonet's place and that he'd have to set off again soon. It was almost the end of June and he was way behind schedule. Pod had the new shoes ready for Burgonet and Arista and Spiller wanted to deliver them.

He also wanted to be alone with Arrietty and alone time was getting hard to come by at Little Fordham, with all of the new security measures Pod had put in place. Spiller stuck it out for two days, picking up assorted things that the visitors dropped, but he soon felt ready to set off again.

Before they did that, though, Arrietty wanted to stop and see Miss Menzies. One morning Spiller told Homily and Pod over breakfast that he wanted to do some borrowing at Mr. Pott's house and wanted Arrietty as a lookout. He assured them that he had seen Mr. Pott setting out all the supplies for brick building in the scullery so he would be busy all day and out of their way. Arrietty's parents finally consented.

Spiller and Arrietty made it to the kitchen just in time for breakfast. Miss Menzies shared oatmeal with brown sugar and cream, and orange juice with them as she told them excitedly about the new event that was coming up in her life.

"Abel has been invited to a benefit dance for the Railway Benevolent and when I told him that it sounded like ever so much fun he agreed to go and take me with him."

Arrietty's mouth dropped open. Miss Menzies had told her all about the London dances she had been forced to attend as a girl and about how much she had hated them. This was completely out of character for Miss Menzies.

"I have a new dress, dark blue taffeta. I'm going to look like very nice," Miss Menzies continued happily, "and I have long white kid gloves."

This caught Spiller's attention, which had been wandering. "Where do you get them?" He demanded. "I need a pair of those for Arrietty's Aunt Lupy. She makes suits out of them that are really hard wearing but the one she brought with her from the house they came from is almost gone."

"Oh, I can give you a pair," Miss Menzies told him. "I have several pairs left over from different affairs I've gone to. I hardly ever use them. I really only need to keep one pair of them just in case. Should I run home and get them?"

"Hate to put you out of your way," Spiller said regretfully.

"What if you come with me?" Miss Menzies said excitedly. "I'd so love you to see some of the things I'm working on and I may have other things that you can use. Abel certainly doesn't need me to help with brick building. I was just going to putter around the village redoing all of the string in the trains and chimneys so they will be ready to smoke this weekend." Her eyes darted around the room and settled on Mr. Pott's market basket. "Could you ride in that do you think? Or would you be too afraid? I would walk every so carefully. I promise."

Arrietty looked at Spiller and said quite firmly, "I would not be afraid."

"Nor I," he said stoutly. Taking Arrietty by the hand he took her over to the side of the basket as Miss Menzie's carefully lined it with a kitchen towel for padding. He helped Arrietty up the side as Miss Menzies stood tensely by. She had promised never to pick the borrowers up but this seemed quite different. When Spiller and Arrietty were sitting securely in the middle of the basket she carefully picked it up.

"I'll see you later, Abel," she said.

"Be careful, Margaret," he answered. "It's supposed to rain this afternoon. Otherwise instead of making bricks in the scullery I'd be out tarring rails. They need it bad down by the custom house but it's no use doing it when there's going to be rain. If it rains hard stay at home until it stops. Don't need you catching a chill when you're so all fired up about the benefit."

"I'll be fine," Miss Menzies said, picking up the basket ever so carefully. To Spiller and Arrietty's delight and amusement, she gave Mr. Pott a kiss on the cheek before she left. As she walked away they could see Abel Pott smiling. They looked at each other and smiled as well.

As Miss Menzies headed through the house she said in a low voice, "I can't wait to see his face when we get to the benefit! It's not just a dance, you see. I wouldn't have begged him to take me along if that's all it was! No, they're going to give him an award in honor of his support of the Railway Benevolent! He's going to get a plaque with his name engraved on it! Won't he be surprised? They asked me to make sure he came. He never goes to the dances, since of course, he can't dance," she said in a breathless hurried way as they left the house and started down the walk. "As if that mattered! He has so many friends there who would enjoy seeing him but this is different. I was so happy to be able to help."

"You'd better quit talking," Spiller said amused, as the basket bounced slightly when they headed down the street. "People will think you're odd talking to yourself."

"I'm used to that," Miss Menzies said, somewhat bitterly, "to people thinking I'm odd, I mean. I do stand out from the crowd, and always have, but it doesn't bother me anymore. I think it would be awfully boring if everyone were the same."

But after that she did quiet down. Arrietty kept a tight hold on Spiller's hand and he patted it reassuringly with his other hand. "Better than riding in young Tom's pocket, ain't it?" Spiller whispered into her ear. His breath tickled and she tried not to giggle.

"Yes, it is that," Arrietty whispered back, "but I wasn't afraid then. I trusted you and I trust Miss Menzies, and so I'm not afraid now, either. She's not going to hurt us, Spiller. I wish I could make Papa see that."

Spiller sighed. He could see both sides of the argument. "Not on purpose," he answered, "but maybe without thinking she could. Accidents happen and while she's happy with only Mr. Pott there's always going to be others around them, on account of the village and the trains, and not all of them are as nice."

He lay back then on the comfortable towel, and with a hand behind his head, studied what he could see of the sky looking up past Miss Menzies' jacketed, bony elbow. The clouds were scuttling by and the sky was darkening. "Might rain this afternoon at that," Spiller said. Arrietty lay back too, and curled up at his side, and watched the sky with him until Miss Menzies stepped up onto her front porch and the basket swung a bit as she fumbled for her key.

Inside her cottage the parlor was small but cozy. Two canaries in an elaborate cage on a stand were singing sweetly to greet them. Miss Menzies set the basket down on the floor between a fine rocker with plush cushions, and a small low table that was covered with spools of thread, scraps of material and a small sewing scissors with handles shaped like a stork.

"Oh, how lovely," Arrietty said, pointing to the scissors when she reached the top of the basket and was getting ready to climb out.

Miss Menzies who had hung up her jacket and was taking her hat off, looked up. "Would you like to see them?" Arrietty nodded excitedly, and Miss Menzies very gently handed them to Spiller, who admired them along with Arrietty. "I have several pairs of those that are just the one piece and several in little boxed sets," Miss Menzies admitted. "They are called Etui. At one point I was collecting them. I also have a heron scissors, and a fox with a stork. That one is my favorite. They're quite rare. And I have several other Victorian sewing kits as well."

She reached into a basket on a higher table and took out some small boxes. Sitting on the ottoman in front of an arm chair on the other side of the room she opened them and set them onto the floor where Spiller and Arrietty could see them. One case was brass plated and shaped sort of like the blade end of a sword, and when Spiller pulled it open, there were two small pairs of scissors in it, one a bit longer than the other. "That one is German," Miss Menzies explained.

The next box was quite heavy for its size, and elaborately carved. There was a thimble inside with a bright floral edge, along with another small pair of scissors, even smaller than the other two pairs in the previous box. "I'm not sure that these scissors are original to this box," Miss Menzies said with a sigh.

"This one is walnut, with a leather expanding side. I bought it because I liked the little brass plaque on top," Miss Menzies said, opening the next box. "The frame and clasp are brass, too."

The plaque had a pagoda scene on it and Arrietty could see right away why it had appealed to Miss Menzies. Inside the case there was a bodkin with a ribbon threader eye, a scissors, a thread winder with a matching pagoda scene, a brass thimble, and a metal crochet hook.

"Such riches," Arrietty marveled. "Papa would do anything for just one scissors like these. We have half a nail scissor, that Spiller uses to cut up meat and other things, and we feel lucky to have that!"

"Then I shall give you one set to take home to your Papa," Miss Menzies said firmly reaching out for another box. "This one, I think. This one is the best. It's a sterling silver case." When she opened it, it took Arrietty's breath away. The case had a blue satin interior and included a small pair of scissors, a mother of pearl handled stiletto, a mother of pearl handled buttonhook, a carved bone crochet hook, a needle case, and a thimble. "There is a bit of rust on the stiletto and the buttonhook, though," Miss Menzies pointed out regretfully.

"Soon get that off, I could," Spiller said, examining the buttonhook.

"You can't give this away!" Arrietty cried, forgetting once more her promise not to speak to a human. "It must be worth a lot!"

Miss Menzies laughed. "It's mine and I can do what I wish with it. I really have too many. It was a silly notion from the start. I want you to have it. You'll put it to better use than I ever did. Now, how about luncheon? I have some nice chicken salad, and we can have tea and scones. Come along to the kitchen. You can talk to me as I get things ready. It might be easier for the two of you if I put down a dishtowel and let you picnic on the floor. Would that be all right?"

"Would be fine," Spiller said, "but if you could give us a thimble to drink out of that would help." He was itching to explore the cottage, instinctively realizing how rich in borrowings it would be, then with a start he remembered that Miss Menzies would probably just give them anything they asked for. It was an odd feeling.

"Oh, no need for that," Miss Menzies said. "I have a doll's tea set on the shelf with the other knick knacks. I just have to wash the cups and plates for you." She walked over to the stand and took down two plates, saucers and cups. They all headed down the hall to the back of the cottage.

An old terrier was sleeping in a basket in the kitchen, in a patch of sunlight. When he looked up, Miss Menzies stopped short. "Stay," she said to him firmly, and looked back at the borrowers. "I forgot to ask you if you're afraid of dogs! I don't think Scrap would hurt you. He's very old and getting lame but I can put him out of the kitchen if you wish."

"No need," said Spiller, walking bravely over to the basket. "How you doing, old fellow?" The dog looked at him perplexed and let Spiller rub his black nose. "Where I grew up the place was crawling with hunting dogs. Dogs is all right if you talk to them."

"Thank goodness," Miss Menzies exclaimed, going to put the kettle on. She put a bit of chicken salad, a cucumber sandwich cut in half, and half a scone on a saucer and rummaged in the drawer until she found a small seafood fork. "This is the best I can do," she said, holding it up. "Will it be all right?"

The borrowers assured her it would be, and when she set the saucer down, they shared the food out onto the plates. She put some tea into the tiny tea cups and when she set them down they drank gratefully.

"When I was a little girl my father used to take me to Hamley's Toy Shop on Regent Street in London," Miss Menzies reminisced. "I've loved little things my whole life. Papa and I had such wonderful times looking at all of the furniture and dishes. I got my first dollhouse when I was three, you see, and I got a more elaborate one when I was six and an even bigger one when I was nine. That one stood on a stand in the nursery and had eight rooms and a balcony that had little pots of dirt on it that I used to plant herbs in. I have that one still, up in the attic."

She rambled on for quite a while about her father and all of the dollhouse items he had given her, remembering every shopping trip in detail. Her eyes grew overly bright when she talked about his death. "I couldn't sleep that night so I went into the old nursery and played with the dollhouse, thinking of him. It comforted me, you see. Working with miniatures still does. It was such a relief when I started helping Abel."

She talked for a long time then about Mr. Pott, his kindness, his steadfastness, and it was clear to both Spiller and Arrietty that her affection for him was deep.

"I can make a living though my art and my books," she finally said, "but it's when I work with miniatures that I feel the happiest. That's why I was so happy to find all of you. You gave me wonderful ideas for my children's book series about fairies. They're selling very well these days. You were like a dream come true for me."

"You're a dream come true for Mr. Pott," Spiller assured her. "He needs you as much as you need to be needed."

Miss Menzies started. "I'd never thought of it that way. I suppose you're right. I do live a very full life but Abel makes it a better one. We work so well together, you see. Oh, well, I suppose I'd better go look for those gloves."

When she rose from the table, she glanced out the window. "Oh! Look how dark it's getting! It is going to storm after all! I must get you back to Little Fordham at once!" She hurried into the back bedroom to get the gloves but it was much too late. A rolling thunder went over the house, a bolt of lightning lit up the window, and rain suddenly came down in sheets. When she came back she had the gloves in her hand but she shook her head as she looked out the window. She couldn't even see the road, that's how hard the rain was.

The room was darkening so she lit the gas lamp and looked out the window again. "Oh, dear, what will we do? We'll all drown in we go out in that but can we afford not to try? What will Homily and Pod think when you don't come back? They'll be worried sick. They'll probably think you were kidnapped again!"

"I doubt it," Spiller said, taking a bite of scone, even though he was already stuffed. "He wouldn't want us running about in this storm. He'll realize we had to hole up somewhere."

"When we come back with all of those nice things," Arrietty said, "he'll get distracted pretty quickly. This reminds me of that storm we had when we were living in the kettle."

"Kettle?" Miss Menzies arched one brow over a violet eye. "What do you mean living in a kettle?"

Spiller, with help from Arrietty, told her all about his kettle, how cleverly he had rigged up the line to open and close the lid, and how they had stayed in it until the rainstorm came that carried Pod, Homily and Arrietty away. He told her how he had found the kettle gone when he had finally returned from his trip and how he had gone downstream looking for them.

Arrietty told the story of their trip down the river, how they had gotten stuck in the pile of sticks, and how Mild Eye the gypsy had come along fishing and tried to get at them. Spiller took up the story then, and explained how Mild Eye had set the rope, how he had managed to cut it by climbing the tree, how Mild Eye had been caught by the policeman who'd been out looking for poachers, and how they'd used that distraction to escape back down the river in Spiller's boat and finally reach Little Fordham. Miss Menzies was mesmerized but when the story finally ended, the rain was still pouring down.

"This is a fine mess," she said with a sigh. "Even if I did try to get back Abel would have my head. I think we're all trapped for the night. I'll put the supper on, and we can see how it is when we're done with that, but I'm afraid this is going to go on all night."

"Is what it is," Spiller said shortly.

While she cooked dinner she and Spiller chatted about things that could be used for storing food for the winter. Spiller wanted to try to keep Pod and Homily in Little Fordham as long as possible, since Arrietty was not anxious to live under a floor again, but he didn't know how he would be able to keep them until winter. In winter, there would be no visitors so if they stayed would have to stockpile food and fuel. And even if they did move to the mill, they would still need something to use for food storage. Miss Menzies promised to give it some thought. She had seen some small stoneware crocks somewhere, with corks, but she couldn't remember where or what their original purpose had been.

"Spices? Medicine? I just can't remember. But I know I saw them, about so high," she said, holding her thumb and forefinger apart. "They would be perfect for what you are describing. I'll keep considering until I do remember and when I do I'll buy as many as you need."

They had beefsteak and baked potato for dinner, and fresh green peas from the garden. Helping himself to one of the latter, Spiller said, "We've got to get dried peas for winter. They keep so well. Not just for you all, but Lupy liked to keep a store of them, too."

"I could help you with that," said Miss Menzies.

After dinner they went back into the parlor because Miss Menzies said she wanted to show them what Mr. Pott had made her for her birthday. "Arrietty will like it, I think," she said, smiling mysteriously. When they sitting on the rug in front of the sofa, she left and came back with something large. They could see a round base as she set it down.

"Oh," Arrietty breathed, getting up and running to it. "Oh!"

It was a hand carved miniature carousel with four little horses on golden poles that circled around a main pole decorated with blue and gold ribbons. The horses had gilded saddles and delicate carved flowers around their necks. The carousel was attached to a music box which sat under the base of the carousel. When Miss Menzies wound it up the horses circled around.

"Would you like to ride it?" Miss Menzies asked casually.

"I'd love to!" Arrietty said, running up to it, remembering all the stories Miss Menzies had told her about horseback riding with her dear Aubrey. "Spiller, let's try it. Do!"

"I'm not getting on that frilly thing," Spiller said shortly, but when Arrietty begged, of course he gave in. Miss Menzies kept winding it whenever it started to slow down. They rode it around and around until Arrietty was getting dizzy and Spiller was heartily sick of the tune.

"You just fit!" Miss Menzies said when the horses finally stopped. She was delighted. Spiller was happy to be done with it. He swung his leg over the horse he'd been riding and went to help Arrietty down. She slid off into his arms, laughing.

"That was so much fun!"

"For you," he said, rolling his eyes, but it was worth it when she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Thank you for riding with me," Arrietty said.

They looked outside then and to their dismay the whole street was one big puddle. "I'll have to find you something to sleep on," Miss Menzies said. "We can't go out in that. It's a deluge."

She went off into the kitchen and came back with two brand new quilted potholders for them to use as mattresses. Then she rummaged around for enough handkerchiefs to use as sheets, and some squares of wool to use as blankets. They got busy making up their beds as she watched them fondly. "I am glad you came to stay, though. I've had such a lovely evening."

"I have, too," said Arrietty, crawling into her snug little bed.

Spiller sat on his cross legged, and looked up at Miss Menzies. "Pod won't ever know we were here. I promise. I'll just tell him after we went to Mr. Pott's house we got caught by the rain. It will be all right. You'll see."

"I hope so," Miss Menzies said, lowering the lamp. "Good night, Spiller. After breakfast, we'll figure out a way to get that sewing kit and the gloves over to the Crown and Anchor."

"Roll up the gloves and tie them to the top of the box," he said. "Then I'll rig up a piece of twine or something and pull the box through the grass like a sled."

"Why Spiller, that's a wonderful idea. I'm sure we can get a piece of string in between the lid and the bottom of the box. Isn't he clever, Arrietty?"

But all they heard out of her was a soft snore. They looked at each other and shook their heads grinning in unison.

The sun was shining brightly when they woke up and heard the sounds Miss Menzies cooking in her kitchen. They had a fine breakfast of eggs, sausage and fried potatoes. Then Miss Menzies and Spiller tried to rig up something to pull the sewing kit. Twine was too thick. The lid wouldn't close over twine, but a piece of embroidery thread worked very well once they tied a knot in each end to keep it from slipping out. Miss Menzies rolled the gloves up into a tight bundle and they got that tied around. Then she put the whole thing into the basket and the borrowers climbed in. It was steamy outside as the sun dried up the puddles but they were safe enough in the basket even if it was a bit hot. When they got to Little Fordham Mr. Pott wasn't inside the house, but when they got to the back, they could see him by the station, presumably wondering when it would dry up enough for him to tar the lines he hadn't been able to get to yet.

They considered carefully how close Miss Menzies could get to the Crown and Anchor without Pod and Homily being able to see her. It's funny, Arietty thought, to be worrying about Mother and Papa seeing Miss Menzies, when it's usually them worrying about her seeing them. When she had gone as far as she dared, she took out the sewing kit in the silver case, and set it down carefully in the grass next to an alder tree. They all said goodbye, and she watched Arrietty and Spiller each take hold of the embroidery thread and start pulling.

When they got to the back of the Crown and Anchor, Homily came to the door in tears. "Oh. Arrietty, we were so worried about you! Why didn't you come home yesterday?"

"We were going to but then we got caught by the rain. It was coming down so hard there for awhile," Arrietty said, "but you must go get Papa! Wait until he sees what Spiller borrowed!"

Pod came and helped them slide the silver box into the kitchen. "The gloves are for Lupy," Spiller said. "She was running out of white kid, but the box is for you."

Just as Arrietty had predicted, when Homily and Pod saw the wonderful set of tools, all their worries about Spiller and Arrietty being gone all night flew out of their heads. They examined them all until it was time for Arrietty and Homily to make something for tea and even as they ate, they debated about what to do with the box.

"I'd keep the tools in it when you're not using them," Spiller said.

"But when we've got it closed it might make a lovely seat," Homily said.

"It's beautiful," Arrietty pointed out, happy that her mother hadn't asked any more questions.

The next couple of days were so hot and humid no one felt like doing anything. Homily didn't even want to light the stove for cooking so they scavenged all their meals from what the visitors dropped that weekend. Spiller and Arrietty, longing for the cool breezes off the river, decided to visit Burgonet and Arista and to go berry picking on the way. The blackberries and strawberries were getting ripe, but they had to figure out how to store them on the boat. Arrietty remembered the old berry basket that they had used for the balloon and they checked the storeroom to see what shape it was in. It was still a bit stained and slightly battered but Spiller thought he could figure out a way to put it under the canopy of his boat.

"As long as we have all the other cargo on the other side when it's full it should balance out," he told Arrietty.

"I can't wait to see Arista again," Arrietty said as they ate one last evening meal before starting out. "She's going to love the shoes you made for her, Papa."

"I hope so," he said. "After you get berries to them, do you all think you could bring a basket back for us? That was one of the best things about living in the boot, the fresh berries and dandelion salad and all. This Pott is a clever fellow, but he's death on dandelions. They get dug up the minute they sprout."

"Oh, Pod, remember when we tried being vegetarians?" Homily laughed.

When Spiller and Arrietty left to go get the berry basket and take it to the boat, Spiller had his quilt and Arrietty had a little bundle with a bit of bread and part of a bath bun that one of the visitors had dropped. Pod gave his usual stern warning to Spiller about taking care of Arrietty, and Homily wished them good luck and good borrowing. They set off in a fine mood when the moon rose. It was a late start but Spiller liked to travel that part of the river at night. Arrietty fell asleep almost at once and dreamed she and Spiller were riding magical horses with flowers around their necks through Little Fordham.

She had been so looking forward to the trip but when dawn came and they stopped at a hidden spot in the reeds off the beaten paths of humans to tie up and get ready to pick to pick berries to take to Arista and Burgonet, they both got hot and crabby.

Hot as she was, Arrietty blamed Spiller's bad mood on the heat and the fact that he was probably exhausted from working the silver knife all night, and tried not to aggravate him. They managed to get the basket full and rearranged the cargo. Then they decided to take a swim in the river to rinse off and cool down.

"Don't look until I get in," Arrietty warned Spiller, who paused from removing his kid vest to laugh uproariously.

"Ari, it's not like I haven't seen it all before."

"WHAT?" She was astounded.

He watched the color rise in her face and her eyes flash, and shrugged. "I used to see you playing in the river all the time that year you lived in the spinney. I'd be going down the river and there you'd be. I wasn't looking," he added hastily, seeing the shock refuse to leave her face, "but I couldn't help but see!"

She stood stock still in her under vest and petticoat, holding her dress in front of her. Then her shoulders slumped and she blushed even harder if that were possible. "I guess we're even then, because I saw you, too."

His black eyes snapped around. "When was this?"

She winced and stammered, then said, "That time it was pouring rain and you showed up at the boot and my mother made you get inside and throw your clothes out to her so she could hang them in the annex to dry. I peeked."

He laughed again, just as uproariously. "Did you like what you saw?"

"Well," Arrietty said thoughtfully, "a lot of what she'd told me about growing up made a lot more sense after that."

"I'll bet," he said. "So if we're even, it doesn't matter if we take a nice swim, does it? I mean, it's nothing new to either of us, and we're getting married anyway, right? Then it won't matter."

She finally managed a small smile. "I suppose so…" and they both tossed aside the last of their clothes and jumped in. The water was cool and they swam and splashed each other for a long time. Then he swam underwater, caught her foot and tried to pull her under. She shrieked with laughter as they both popped up, spitting water.

"Sure you're not angry with me anymore?" He asked, as they swam back to the boat.

"I wasn't really angry," Arrietty replied. "Tell me, though. Did you like what you saw?"

He grinned at her. "Certainly did. Like you better now though that you've filled out a bit more, though. Ari, you're so beautiful."

"Oh, get on with you!" She swam around to the other side of the boat to climb in, leaving him to climb in on the side by the cargo. By then it was late in the morning and he curled up in his quilt and fell fast asleep. Arrietty watched him fondly until she decided she could use a nap, too.

In the early evening they woke up, had a meal of bread and strawberries, washed down with water, and a big piece of bun, thick with currants and sugar, for dessert. When Spiller decided it was late enough to get going again, they untied both ends of the barge and he pushed them off into the open river with his butter knife.

When they got to the spot where they had to tie up to go to Arista and Burgonet's place, it was late at night. They tied up carefully. When the front and back of the boat were secure, they debated for awhile about how to cover up the berries until morning. They couldn't manage to carry the basket alone but they didn't want anything getting in and eating them. This led to an elaborate covering of the basket with almost everything they had along outside of Spiller's quilt.

Then they walked hand in hand up to Burgonet's place, with Spiller balancing his quilt and kit bag over one shoulder, and Arrietty carrying the bags of shoes and her meager traveling possessions in her other hand. She liked holding his hand. It was rough and calloused but it made her feel secure. He had worked so hard for so many years to make his way in the world. That was something to be proud of.

When they got into Spiller's room she got ready for bed quickly and he settled down on the rug rolled up in his quilt. "Good night, Spiller," she said softly as he laid down his dark head. "I'm so glad I'm here with you."

"Good night, Ari. I'm glad you came, too."

When Spiller opened his eyes, he could tell from the way the shadows lay in the passage that it was late morning. He sat up. "Ari, wake up."

She muttered, and then stretched in the bed. "Is Arista here?"

"I don't think she knows we're here. It's late. Later than I've ever slept here before." He stood up and stretched a bit more himself. "They must not have heard us come in."

Arrietty bolted up in bed." I hope nothing has happened to them!"

"What could have happened?" Spiller asked, watching her swing her legs over the side of the bed. She had slim ankles and long, well shaped feet.

"I don't know," she answered, picking her dress up and sliding it on over her head. "Could the Vicar have gotten a cat?"

"The Vicar hates cats. He thinks they're sneaky," Spiller said, rolling up his quilt and tying it.

"Well, that's a relief," Arrietty said, pulling on her stockings and shoes. She reached for the bag containing the new shoes and asked, "Should I bring anything else?"

"No, we can leave our things here," Spiller said. "Let's go."

They walked down to the gate, which was securely closed, and Spiller leaned over it to undo the latch. When he had it open he motioned Arrietty in and followed her. He didn't latch it back up. When he felt Arrietty's eyes on him he said, "We'll need it open for when we go get the berries."

They walked down the hallway to Burgonet's door. Spiller stuck his head in. "Hallo," he said.

Burgonet turned around from where he was puttering in the kitchen and his face lit up. "Spiller! Where in the world have you been? Did you take the river down to the sea?"

"Just been busy," Spiller said with a grin, and he glanced back at Arrietty.

"Oh, could I use you!" Burgonet said, looking at her. When she went into his arms for a joyous hug, he added, "How about staying for a few days and helping me catch up on the cooking and the cleaning?"

"Why, where is Arista?" Arrietty asked, alarmed. "Is she sick?"

"Morning sickness," Burgonet said. "She's expecting in the New Year and has been a little green around the gills."

Both Arrietty and Spiller were delighted with this news. While Spiller and Burgonet were backslapping each other, grinning like fools, Arrietty went back to the bedroom to see her friend.

"I hear congratulations are in order!"

Arista looked up from her bed where she'd been dozing on her side with her head on her hand, and smiled weakly. "Thank you! I'm really happy but I didn't know it was going to be so hard. The first few weeks were just awful. I'm getting a little better now but I'm still useless until midmorning and I find myself exhausted right after supper."

Arrietty sat on the edge of the bed and hugged her. "It will be worth it when the baby comes! It's so exciting."

Arista let go of Arrietty, and stood up. "So what did you and Spiller bring?" She asked, splashing some water on her face and brushing her hair.

"Berries, lots of them, and Papa finished the shoes."

"Jam," said Arista. "If you don't mind helping we can make jam…after we try on the shoes of course."

When they came out of the bedroom Burgonet had made a pot of tea and Arrietty and Spiller had some while their friends tried on the new shoes. Burgonet and Arista both loved them, and were amazed they fit so well. They admired them for a long time. Then Spiller and Burgonet decided to go try to bring in the berries. Arrietty, instantly worried, offered to help them, but they insisted they could manage. Burgonet told her that they had a piece of tin with string attached to it, hidden down by the river that they used to drag things up to the Vicarage. If they could get the berry basket onto the tin then it would be easy to move across the grass.

"Like we did with that box from Miss Menzies," Spiller said.

When they had gone, Arista asked who Miss Menzies was, and Arrietty told her the whole story. She was quite shocked that Arrietty had made friends with a human being, but when Arrietty pointed out that Spiller had made friends with Tom Goodenough and that everything had worked out with him, Arista had to admit that was true.

"I think you're both very, very brave, though," Arista said. "I've always been told you can't trust them, and for the majority of them I think that staying away from them is the best policy."

"Most of them yes," Arrietty agreed, thinking of Mabel and Sidney and the attic.

On the way to the river Spiller asked Burgonet how things were going. He shrugged.

"Aside from being tired all the time and that bout of getting sick in the morning, I think it's going all right. We've waited for this for so long. It's hard to believe it's really happening. I don't know how I will handle it when it actually does happen, though. I'll probably pass out or throw up."

Spiller tried to remember what he had heard when his siblings had come, but those days were hazy. "There's a family I know with five children. Next time I go there I'll ask the parents if they have any tips for you."

Burgonet looked relieved. "I'd appreciate that. I don't even know where there are any others. There haven't been any here as long as I've been here, and they'd pretty much all gone or died out when I left the house I'd lived in when I was a boy."

The men started bringing in the strawberries first, and so Arrietty and Arista had to stop talking and start jam making. Thankfully Arista had a large stock of sugar and enough containers to can with. Arrietty had fun. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay and help Arista and Burgonet, and have fun with them forever, but after two days Spiller got restless.

"Ari," he told her, as they shared the little hallway room that last night, "it will be autumn before you know it. You and your family need to be at the mill by then so you can get settled in before winter. I have things to do. I need to get back and see how Lupy's doing with my clothes for winter and I need to drop off those gloves. She won't need them until spring but they're better off at her place than with us. I need to go down the drain and check all of my spots along the way. I've neglected them for too long and I haven't been by my stove in way too long."

"I just like being with you," Arrietty said softly, propping her head on one arm and looking down at him, where he was curled up on the rug. "I want to be with you all the time and I like Arista and Burgonet. I wish we could stay until the baby comes. I'd do everything for her."

Spiller rolled his eyes. "Are you mad? We can't stay here until January! You've never tried to sleep in this room in the winter. It's as drafty as it gets. Besides, your parents would strangle me if I kept you away that long. We'll come back and see the baby when the snow starts to melt, I promise, but for now you need to get home and I need to get back onto the river."

He rolled over pretending to sleep, but all the while he was wondering what it would be like when he and Arrietty really did live together. He decided that he'd made the right decision. She was still too young to think about such things. There'd be time enough for that later.

In the morning after a big breakfast and lots of goodbye hugs, Spiller and Arietty packed up the jam and tea that Arista was sending away with them and headed back to Little Fordham. They stopped for the promised berries for Homily, but when they arrived didn't unpack anything else when they got there. Pod agreed with Spiller. They didn't need those things in Little Fordham. They needed to get them to the mill. Spiller only stayed at the Crown and Anchor that one night. He and Pod left the next night after they added some more supplies to the boat that needed to go downriver, the tools from Miss Menzies, some more yarn and a few other things.

He and Pod said their goodbyes to Homily and Arrietty at the Crown. Homily didn't want to come down to the river to see them off, and while Arrietty would have, Spiller thought it best if she didn't. He kissed her quickly and waved as he and Pod walked away, Pod dragging the tool box and Spiller carrying a spool of thread and a bag of buttons that had been scavenged at Little Fordham. Aside from the fact that they still did not have a stove, the new home was about ready to move into.

When Spiller and Pod got everything arranged, they were tired and looking forward to a nice cup of tea and a good rest at Daubrey's house, but that was not to be. They filled up bags of flour for Sateen, and made good time on the river, but when they got there, it wasn't Actina who met them at the door. It was Halberd.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Pod was so shocked he dropped a bag of flour. Spiller winced, but it didn't break open.

"Halberd, what are you doing here?" Pod exclaimed.

"I've been here almost a week," Halberd said sheepishly. "Mother and I had a huge fight and I just left. I made a raft and came down the river and I've been here ever since."

"You made a raft?" This stunned Spiller even more than seeing Halberd had done, and he wondered how Halberd had even managed to maneuver it downstream. He had never dreamed that Halberd had that much ingenuity and pluck. Spiller and Pod went in and the whole family came out to see what was going to happen next.

"I told him he could stay here," Daubery said sheepishly. "He's been helping me. He's a lot of help. I haven't had this much help in years, not since you were a lad, Spiller."

Pod collapsed onto a chair. "Lupy and Hendreary must be frantic!"

Halberd shrugged. "I don't think Pa will worry too much but Mother might be a bit."

Spiller sighed. "I was planning on going that way in the next couple of days. I'll tell her you're all right. Where do you want the flour, Sateen?"

Sateen and the twins took the flour, and as she went into the kitchen, Sateen called back, "Let me get a meal going. We'll all talk better if we get some food in us."

Actina went to help set the table, but Daubery, Hemiola and Halberd sat down in the parlor with Spiller and Pod. Hemiola was holding Halberd's hand and Spiller had a good idea of what was coming.

"Spiller, were you serious about me taking on part of your route on the river?" Halberd asked.

"Well, yes," Spiller said. "I could use help with it. I've really let things go while we've been getting Pod's family's new place set up."

"And what about your stove? Can I really stay there like I used to do after we left the badger's set?" Halberd asked.

"Don't see why not," Spiller answered cautiously, staring down at the rag rug, as rattling sounds came from the kitchen and a delicious smell began to waft out.

"Then I want to get started on that right away," Halberd said firmly. "I want you to help me sort it all out by winter. Hemiola and I want to get married before the snow flies."

Pod rolled his eyes at Hemiola, who was blushing furiously. "You've known the boy for a few weeks and you want to marry him?"

She swallowed hard, looked at Halberd and said, "Yes, I do. I know we haven't known each other very long but we both know what we want. We've wanted it a lot longer than we've known each other. It just all fell into place when we saw each other."

Spiller, who hadn't trimmed his hair in awhile, brushed it back out of his eyes, and looked over at Daubery. "You're all right with this?"

He squirmed. "Well, I wish they'd stay here with us but I know it's a bit crowded. When Halberd showed up we had to make another bedroom for him on the other side of the kitchen."

This made Spiller grin, since the space on the other side of the kitchen was as far from the girl's rooms as possible. He shot a sly glance at Pod, thinking about how he had put Arrietty's new room at the mill as far away from Spiller's space as possible. It must, he thought, just be something dads do to make a statement, since it certainly doesn't keep the two sexes apart and they must know that. He glanced up again at Daubery as he continued to speak.

"If your old place by the gypsy camp suits them and they can at least come back and see us now and then, I think it's all right. I like Halberd. I liked him the minute I met him, just like Hemiola here did. We won't have the wedding until it gets closer to winter so they have time to think things over."

"It's July now," Pod interjected, but then Sateen called them all to table, so he and Spiller had to go wash their hands as she put the food on the table. The so-called adults, Spiller, Pod, Sateen, Halberd, Hemiola and Daubery sat at there, and the younger ones ate in the front of the room, quieter than Spiller had ever seen them eat not willing to miss a word of what was going on.

There was mushroom soup, dandelion salad, noodles in a chicken sauce, sweet purple grapes, and cake with tea. No one spoke much at first. They couldn't talk and eat their way through all of that food. But when the meal was over, Spiller wiped his face with one of Sateen's linen napkins that she had made from the last handkerchief he'd brought her, and looked over at Halberd and Hemiola.

"Pod and I are going back to Little Fordham tomorrow. Once I get him home I'll come back and get you, Halberd. We'll check out the stove at the gypsy camp. I've been meaning to do that anyway, and we can check out the drains."

When Halberd looked puzzled, Spiller said, "You need to see my drains. You'll understand what I'm talking about when you do. My condition for teaching you though, and letting you use the stove, is that we stop at the groundskeeper's cottage and we tell your parents the truth. You want to be an adult, fine. Be one, but adults don't sneak around when it comes to the people they love and your family loves you. Don't care how hard they've been on you, they do. They have a right to know what's going on."

Halberd nodded. Hemiola was the one who spoke. "Should I come with you? Should I meet them?"

Pod almost choked on the piece of grape he'd just put in his mouth. "Not this time," he put in hoarsely, reaching for some tea. "Give them a chance to get used to the idea. Let Spiller see how it goes. If you get things smoothed over there will be plenty of time for that."

Spiller nodded curtly, and then swallowing a last bite of noodle, remembered something. "I was meaning to ask you about my friend Burgonet. His wife is expecting in the spring and he's nervous about what to do. How hard is it to bring a baby do you think?"

"Oh, tell him there's nothing to bringing a baby," Daubery said. "The baby knows what to do and the mother does all the work. Just tell him to remember when it's out to tie the cord tight in two places with some clean thread and cut it in between the knots."

Sateen nodded. "He mustn't get too worried if it's taking a long time. Sometimes it goes fast but it's harder. You don't have time to get used to everything that's happening to you, but then at least it's over. Sometimes it takes a long time, though, and the mother gets too tired. That's what happened to me when I had Actina. Each one went faster than the one before until we got to her. I never thought that child was going to come. Then when she finally was ready I was too tired to push. Daubery was screaming at me louder than I was screaming in general, that I had to do it, and I did, and look at her now. She's probably the healthiest of them all."

Spiller grinned at the child, who was blushing, remembering how worried they had all been at the time. "Didn't want to join us after all, hey Tina?"

"I don't remember," she said solemnly, and they all laughed.

When it was bedtime they gave Spiller and Pod the back bedroom and Halberd went back to his little room off the kitchen. Pod couldn't wait until he and Spiller were alone to talk about the day's events. Spiller had barely gotten rolled up in his quilt when Pod started in.

"Do you think it will be all right?" Pod asked anxiously, in low tones.

"I do," Spiller said, stretching out. "They both want the same things and they've been raised the same way. I think they'll be fine. Neither of them picky, you know."

"I suppose," Pod said slowly, stretching out in the bed, "but I can't imagine what Lupy is going to say to him, or to you, either."

"She'll get over it," Spiller said yawning, and fell fast asleep.

The rest of July and all of August, Spiller felt like he'd gone back in time. He did more riding of the river than he used to do when he was on his own. He was hardly ever alone but he was on the go and doing something every minute.

When he and Pod got back to Little Fordham and broke the news about the upcoming wedding in the family Arrietty was delighted. Homily was beside herself. She kept asking if Halberd knew what he was doing and what in the world they thought Lupy was going to say about it all. Spiller kept telling her he thought Halberd did, but he had no idea about Lupy.

On the pretext of going borrowing at Mr. Pott's house he and Arrietty went to have tea with Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott to hear how the benefit had gone. Mr. Pott pooh-poohed the whole

thing but it was clear that he had been mighty pleased with the honor, if not the attention.

"Margaret looked like a queen, indeed," he said, smiling at her fondly.

"That's nice of you to say Abel, but I wouldn't go that far," Miss Menzies said. "Oh, and guess what? One of dear Aubrey's daughters was there! What a small world it is! Her husband works for the railroad. They told us all about his job and about their daughter. Fancy my dear cousin Aubrey being old enough to be a grandfather!" 

"The daughter's fella was pretty nice," interjected Mr. Pott. "I liked him."

"Did those gloves work out for you all right, Spiller?" Miss Menzies asked, as she offered them coffee and a bit of blackberry pie.

"I haven't taken them yet. I'm going on that trip next week. Things have been busy. A friend of mine and his wife are having a baby and Arrietty and I went to see them, and her cousin is getting married this fall, and the whole family is in an uproar over that."

"Oh, the happiest days are when babies come and there are weddings," Miss Menzies said, thrilled to pieces. "You must let me make something for the baby and for your cousin, Arrietty. When is all this happening?" 

"The wedding is this fall right before winter comes," Spiller said, reaching for another piece of pie, and wondering what had possessed them to make coffee. They did it occasionally, but he really did prefer tea. "The baby's not coming until January. You've got time enough but if you want to putter about they said they were looking for flannel for diapers."

"Oh, my, how small those diapers will have to be!" Miss Menzies exclaimed, "But what fun it will be! I wish I knew what it was. Then I could make pink or blue clothes, but I guess it doesn't matter. How are you parents doing at the Crown and Anchor?"

"Actually," Spiller said with a sigh, "they're almost ready to move on. We just can't find anything for Homily to use as a stove."

Pott sighed, too, and then shook his head. "Sorry that they are going; that I am, but I know how they must feel. I was just hoping if we got them into another building they'd feel more at ease."

"They are," Spiller said kindly, "and I'm sure we'll all be back often enough, but winter is coming and they think they'd be better off indoors. Pickings get slim here in the winter and we can't let them know you know that they're back."

"If we do that," Arrietty said, propping her head on her hand, "they'll never come back at all."

"I could get the blacksmith to make another stove like the one I put in Vine Cottage," Mr. Pott said.

"No good," Spiller said regretfully. "Homily would love it but Pod and I wouldn't be able to move it even if Homily and Arrietty helped. Too heavy."

"What about a little pot bellied stove like the one in the station?" Miss Menzies said suddenly. "That's much smaller but just as well made. Would you be able to manage that?"

"Could do," Spiller said thoughtfully, dumping more cream in the coffee. "Would he do that?"

"Oh, surely. He'll make whatever we ask for, but how much pipe would you need?"

Spiller took another sip and thought the cream had improved the coffee, but that more sugar would make it even better. "At least two long pieces, as tall as me, and a curved piece about half that high."

"I'll tell Henry to start right away," Mr. Pott said, "I'll ask Mr. Flood, the mason, for a small, flat piece of stone to set it on, or maybe a piece of tile would be better. It'll be safer that way."

"That will be so wonderful," Arrietty said, then jumped up as the clock chimed in Mr. Pott's parlor. "We must be going back, Spiller. Papa and Mother will wonder what we've been up to!"

"I have your bag of dried peas," Miss Menzies said, getting up herself. "Do you want anything else?"

"A small potato, if you can spare one, and maybe a carrot?" Spiller replied. "There's plenty of berries and greens this time of year, but not so much other food, other than what the visitors drop, and it's nice to have a change."

"And mother needs yeast for baking bread," Arrietty said suddenly.

Miss Menzies rigged up a sort of sling and put in the potato, a carrot, a bag full of sugar, and a cake of yeast. She carried these things and the bag of dried peas as far as she could, and waved goodbye as Arrietty dragged the bag of peas and Spiller dragged the rest on to the back door of the Crown.

Homily was pleased with all of these borrowings but she thought Spiller and Arrietty were taking too many chances and they couldn't change her mind without telling the truth which they obviously could not do.

After a good night's sleep and a good breakfast Spiller got up at dawn to go back downriver. He was taking the dried peas and the bag of sugar to the mill. Homily felt she had enough sugar to last for the time they were going to be at the Crown, and she would need it at the mill. They broke the yeast in half and wrapped one half up carefully so Spiller could take that, too.

Promising to tell them all the news of what everyone said and did while he was visiting, he kissed Arrietty goodbye, hugged Homily, and let Pod slap him on the back before he got into his boat. "I'll be gone awhile," He warned. "Could be longer than usual. Watch for me when the moon is full."

"We'll miss you, Spiller," Homily said.

"I will miss you," Arrietty said, looking at him with so much love and longing in her eyes that it made him feel warm all over, and then left him shaken with fear. After Halberd's announcement, she seemed to think that getting married sooner than later would be a good thing but Spiller was still content to let things ride. He was too busy trying to figure out how to set up Pod's new home and make his old one fit for Halberd and Hemiola to even want to think about setting up one of his own.

On the way to the mill, he thought about how in the world he was going to explain the stove when Henry, the blacksmith in Fordham finished it. He decided it might be best not to even try. If Pott and Miss Menzies could help him load it into his boat and he could get it to the mill he thought Halberd might be able to help him unload it. They could set the whole thing up and have it there when Homily arrived. She would be too surprised and delighted then to question it.

When he got to the mill and got the things into Pod's new place he couldn't help walking around. It was really shaping up. They would need more furniture of course, but they had enough things to make do with until they could get the place totally furnished.

He'd found a piece of board for a table, and some corks for stools. He worked on the table for awhile, making legs for it and fastening them securely. When he was satisfied he set the corks around it, stood back, and surveyed his work. That'll do for awhile, he thought.

He put the goods he'd brought into the storeroom. Spiller was glad he had talked Pod into keeping the storeroom closest to the entrance, so they wouldn't have to carry things in too far, and then they would have the kitchen. He examined the wall again where the stove would have to go. Might've told Pott too much pipe, he thought, but it didn't really matter. They could find another use for it if there was too long.

He walked from his room, past the living space and Pod and Homily's room, to the room that had been set aside for Arrietty. Spiller grinned. Pod had definitely put Arrietty's bedroom as far away from his as possible. Did he really think they were doing anything they shouldn't? They did quite a bit and it was wonderful but not everything they could have done. Pod was well aware of how much time Spiller and Arrietty spent in close quarters when they were on trips together. This room arrangement, Spiller decided, giving it some more thought was purely symbolic but Spiller got the point and was determined to abide by Pod's unspoken rule.

He liked touching Arrietty and she liked touching him, and as long as she could please him without having to go beyond the bounds of propriety it was fine with Spiller. Besides, he didn't need to be worrying about a baby on the way like Burgonet. He was exhausted by then and went to take a long nap.

When he left the mill he decided to take dinner to Sateen. He stopped and did a bit of fishing. The weather was perfect for a few hours of lazing on the bank waiting for a bite. It had been a long time since he'd filled up the wire stringer he kept in his boat with a mess of fish. He had missed this, the time to himself just out of doors, catching food and enjoying the solitude, but he needed a lot of minnows if everyone was going to be able to eat at Daubery's house before he left with Halberd to face Lupy's wrath.

Each time he caught a fish he strung it up and left it hanging over the side so that it would stay cool in the water. When he thought he had enough it was afternoon and he was hungry. He picked a couple of blackberries and a few rose hips to hold him over and set out for Daubery's place. He didn't like being on the river in the afternoon, too much chance of being seen, but there didn't seem to be a lot of humans out on a cloudy weekday.

Spiller had to struggle with the fish up to the Vicar's house but he managed. When they realized he was in the hall Halberd and Daubery came to help him.

"I brought dinner," Spiller said cheerfully, "if you're up for fresh fish."

"Nothing better than fresh caught fish," Sateen said, giving him a hug in spite of his fishy hands. "I'll roll them in cornmeal and fry them in butter. Hemiola, come and help me. Spiller, dear, you can go clean up."

When he had done that and the fish was frying, making the house smell heavenly, Spiller said to Halberd, "Go pack up whatever you need for a couple of weeks away because we're moving out as soon as I finish whatever Sateen and Hemiola make for dessert."

Halberd blinked. "Tonight? We're leaving tonight?"

If we don't get to the drain before eleven or twelve tonight, we won't be able to tackle it until tomorrow night and I don't want to waste time. Some of the places we're going aren't safe to travel through during the day."

"All right," Halberd said uncertainly. "I don't have much to pack, though. I just brought the clothes I could carry with me when I left home."

"If there's anything else you want there, now's the time to decide," said Spiller. "You've made your choice and you're going to have to live with it. If your parents can't be talked into going along with it, then you're done there."

"I know," said Halberd sadly, "but I know I'm doing the right thing. I can't go back and live the way I was living before, Spiller. I just can't do it."

Over dinner, which included the fish, some sorrel salad, and strawberry cake, Spiller and Halberd discussed their upcoming trip. Spiller had decided to go through the drain first, visit with Lupy and Hendreary, and then go check out the stove and the gypsy camp. Then he wanted to take a run down to Little Fordham to see if the stove was finished. If it was, he thought he and Halberd could take it to the mill.

"It will be really nice to see Uncle Pod and Aunt Homily and Arrietty again," Halberd said.

"But they can't know about the stove," Spiller stressed. "It's a surprise," he added, not wanting to go into the whole story of Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott in front of Daubery's family, whom he was sure would not approve. "I just want you to help me load it. After it's stowed away tight, we might be able to fit in a short visit before I bring you back here."

"Whatever you say," Halberd assured him. "You're the captain."

"I'm glad you think so, because like I said, we're leaving out as soon as I finish this cake," Spiller said.

"Tonight?" Hemiola asked, shocked. "You have to leave tonight?"

Spiller told him the same thing he had told Halberd, and because she wanted them safe, she was finally resigned to it. "Do we need to pack you any provisions?"

"No," Spiller admitted, taking a huge bite of salad, "we can forage on the way. I promise, Hemiola, I won't let him starve.'

When they went to Spiller's boat, he stopped to examine Halberd's raft, which was hidden a bit farther down river. Not that anyone would take it for more than a pile of sticks if they saw it. Spiller couldn't believe Halberd had managed to ride the river in it, although when Halberd pointed out how he had laid the sticks out over a large piece of bark, it made a bit more sense.

"Very creative," Spiller told him.

"I was desperate," Halberd said with a grin.

They got into Spiller's flat bottomed boat, stowed their gear under the canopy, and untied both moorings. Then they set off down the river just as the sun began to set. They took turns punting and Spiller had to admit he was grateful for the help the way the current was running. It took several hours to reach the cluster of brambles where Spiller kept his boat while he was plying the drains. He looked sadly at the place where his kettle used to be. Then he showed Halberd where his soap box boat was.

"Just take what you need for the night," he instructed Halberd. He left his quilt behind because it would not fit in Pod's waterproof bag, which was still safely stowed away in the soap box. Spiller was fond of that quilt and feared what condition it would wind up in if it got wet. They took what clothes Halberd felt he absolutely must have, the food they'd been given and Spiller's quiver and arrows, and guided the soap box along the edge of the river to the sandy bit of beach by the drain. They foraged around to see if anything good had come out of the drain lately, and found a couple of hairpins. Then Spiller told Halberd to keep watch while he did some hunting.

"Lupy will be in a better mood if I bring her a couple of nice, fat, corn fed field mice," Spiller pointed out.

"Yes, I see what you mean," Halberd agreed. He sat down to wait but as darkness fell and he could hear an owl hooting somewhere nearby, he climbed up into the mouth of the drain worried about Spiller, and wondering what was so special about this drain that they had to camp there. He had to crawl out quickly, when a rush of bath water came pouring through. When the rumbling sound began he was confused and as it grew louder and the vibration started, he scrambled up the same tree root where Arrietty had so long ago waved goodbye to Spiller when he had left her and her parents in the kettle.

The rush of hot water seemed endless, but it was soon over, and Halberd leaned over, sniffing the air coming out of the drain, which smelled like coal tar. Aunt Homily's favorite soap, Halberd thought, long ago memories of Firbank flitting through his mind. A few minutes later he had to scramble again as another rush of water came past him, this time smelling like lavender. Some rich woman must live somewhere along this drain, he thought. A third flood, smelling of sandalwood came through and then it got very quiet, and much darker.

When Spiller returned he had to call for Halberd's help as soon as he got close to the bank above the drain. He had shot not one but three fat field mice. As Halberd helped him bring them down the bank he scolded Spiller.

"I was worried about you, and you could have told me about the bath water. I nearly got drowned in it."

"The bathing should be done soon. It's getting awfully late for a bath. At least I hope so. It's hard to hang onto my soap box when the water comes through. I'm sorry you worried," Spiller said. "I didn't expect to be gone so long, but I had such a run of luck I thought I ought to let it ride.

"Do you want to cut these up here?" Halberd asked, examining the mice.

"No, let's leave that for your lot to do," Spiller said. "We'll have a nice leg of mouse tomorrow at your Ma's place."

"How do we get there from here?" Halberd asked, bewildered, and Spiller grabbed the rope attached to the end of the soap box.

"Pull," he said shortly.

They began to trudge through the drain pulling the soap dish full of mouse, splashing through puddles that smelled like sandalwood. It was dark, very dark, but Halberd could sense Spiller beside him and could feel his equal pull on the other side of the rope. "To the right," Spiller hissed, and Halberd found himself guiding the boat around a tangle of branches. They came to a branch drain and Spiller told Halberd to hold up.

"Holmcraft" he said, wrapping the rope around a heavy stick jammed against the opening of a shining, light colored porcelain cavern. "Follow me," said Spiller and when he did, he found himself under a floor drain, which Spiller pushed open with a section of what looked like an old brass curtain rod. "When I got this I cut it in pieces and left it by all the drains I use," He explained. "This house is easy, just an old couple. They go to bed early and are both hard of hearing and can't see a thing without their glasses. We'll come up in their scullery." He helped Halberd up and then Halberd helped him. They slipped through the scullery into the kitchen. Spiller knew where they kept their matches, so they took a box of those and set them next to the drain, and then they went back for a couple of candles.

"Whatever we get we put by the drains right away," Spiller instructed Halberd as he walked backward, holding one end of a candle, while Halberd had the other. "Then if we do hear them get up, we get away quickly with what we can. You don't want them to catch you out with things out of place."

They also checked out a sewing basket, which Spiller relieved of a thimble that reminded him a bit of the one his mother used to have, a skein of white yarn and a spool of white thread. "Bet every borrower in the countryside is sick of blue yarn," Spiller said mischievously.

When everything was down onto the soap box Spiller lowered the drain cover back into place with the slightest of clanks. Then they continued on down the drain.

The next one opened up in a kitchen. They were able to take an onion, a potato, and several dinner napkins there. They continued on to the next drain, where Spiller and Halberd managed to get two whole bars of the lavender soap out of a bathroom.

"Yardley of London," Spiller said, reading the label. "They've been around forever. Before 1851 they were known as Yardley and Staham. This soap is famous, it is. They started selling this one in 1873. I think we should try to save these for Hemiola and Arrietty. They'll like them, if we can just get out of the drain without getting them ruined. We'll have to watch our timing on that."

The soap box was getting full and if they hadn't been pulling it over jellied slime, they would not have been able to manage it. "No more this time," Spiller said. "We have to get back to the cottage before morning baths start."

"Our cottage?" Halberd exclaimed. When Spiller nodded, he started to laugh. "That's how you got Pod and Homily and Arrietty away, isn't it? Mother thought they tried to slip out the door and the ferret got them, but it was you, wasn't it? We knew you'd been there, too. We found the things you'd left but we never could connect it all together. Where is the drain, though?"

Spiller smiled his most v-shaped, mocking smile. "Under the mangle in the washhouse."

Halberd recoiled. "I didn't even know they had a drain under there!"

Spiller nodded as they pulled their way along. "Was for overflow from the sink. I'd appreciate it, though, if you leave this between you and me. I don't want your brothers trying to mess around with it or you father trying to get down there at his age." Halberd agreed to this quickly, completely understanding Spiller's concerns.

"Plus," he said with a huge smile, "it's fun to see Mother to try to figure out how you come and go like a ghost!"

They trudged along then for a long time without speaking. They were both getting very tired. When they reached the drain at the cottage Halberd helped Spiller raise the grating. It was much easier with two. Then Spiller went up the twine and let it back down and they used it tied around the various bits of cargo to haul everything topside. It was that hour just before dawn when everything shimmers with misty light. "We just made it," Spiller said with a sigh.

"Do you want the soap bars?" Halberd said, not eager to tie them up, but Spiller, sighing again, thought they had better have them up and slide them way back under the mangle.

"I've never seen 'em spill water down this drain in the morning," he said regretfully, "but if we don't have them up this'll be the one day."

When the bars were up Halberd came up the rope. He was taller than Spiller so he found it fairly easy. He helped Spiller hide the lavender soap, and then they began to wearily haul the mice and the borrowings into the next room and behind the log box. When everything was safely stored inside the cave like space behind the wall, Spiller said, "I don't know about you, but I'm knackered. Let's go up and have a nap in that old room where Pod and Homily used to live. We can put the mice and some of the lighter things outside your Ma's door so she gets busy with them when they all get up and we can have a good long nap. The rest of it we can bring up later if they don't find it first and do it for us."

They dragged the mice up the ladder by their tails and left them on the landing outside Lupy's door along with the napkins, gloves, yarn and matches. Then Halberd and Spiller climbed the rest of the way up to Pod and Homily's landing. "You can have the doll house bed in there," Spiller told Halberd. "I'll sleep here in the outer room." He liked the thickish piece of wadding where Arrietty used to sleep. It reminded him of her. He shook it to clear a bit of dust away, and smoothed it back down.

Halberd nodded. "If they come looking for us, it would be better if they saw you before they see me," and all but staggered to bed.

Spiller crawled under the bedcovers and pressed his face into the pillow. It still smelled slightly like Arrietty. He wished with all his heart that she was there sleeping beside him the way she had done in his knife box boat. He missed her.

The next day when Spiller woke up he realized that he had slept a long time. There was a faint light coming from the landing below but it was still daylight. He sat up and looked around. If Halberd had gone past him, Spiller was almost sure he would have heard him and woken up. He went and looked into the next room. Sure enough, Halberd was still sprawled across the doll bed, with one arm hanging down toward the floor, snoring.

Spiller went over and shook him by the shoulder. "Time to get up and see if we can convince your mother we deserve breakfast. Or maybe it's luncheon?"

Halberd rolled over and looked up at his friend. "You'll probably fair better with her than I will."

They went downstairs and to Spiller's relief, the dead mice and other items were gone and the door was open. He stuck his head in. "Morning," he said.

Lupy, who'd been dusting the toy fireplace in the ornate and totally useless drawing room, looked up and set down her dust cloth. She wiped her hands on her apron. "More like afternoon. Where have you been?"

"Was too tired to live when I got in last night. Decided to go sleep upstairs. Did you find the other things I left at the bottom of the ladder."

"Yes," Lupy said. "The boys and Hendreary went down and got them this morning. I was especially glad to see the gloves. I really was just about out of kid, you know. How did you ever manage all that on your own?"

"Well, wasn't entirely on my own," Spiller said, scratching his head and stepping into the room. He looked back at Halberd who followed him tentatively. Lupy looked at him and her face lit up.

"Halberd! You've come home! Hendreary, hurry up! Eggletina! Grego! Timmis! Come and see! Your brother is back!"

They all came running in from the kitchen. Eggletina hugged Halberd and Timmis clung to his hand. Hendreary slapped him on the back, but Grego, Spiller noticed, looked put out. He's probably enjoyed being his father's right hand man, Spiller thought, and thinks that's over now. He'll soon see.

"I told you he'd come back," Lupy crowed.

"Ma," Halberd started to say, but she just kept talking.

"Now you and Spiller go wash and brush up and we'll all have a nice luncheon. Eggletina, take out some more bread and cheese and jam." She looked at Spiller and shrugged. "Hendreary and I started cutting up the mouse, and I did get some of it into the stew pot with a bit of the onion and potato you brought. I had a carrot the boys got from young Tom, too, but I just now put it on the stove, and it won't be ready until supper."

She shooed them along and they tidied themselves as she'd asked. When they gathered around the table, Halberd found himself in his old spot next to the copy ink table leg. He looked around the room as Lupy continued to chatter.

"You've probably had all sorts of adventures. We've had a bit, too, while you've been gone. That boy's grandfather got ill again and went back to the hospital but they decided the boy did a better job than that lazy lout they had here the last time and are letting him stay and take charge."

"Tom Goodenough?" Spiller said, his dark eyes flashing as he looked up from the green glass decanter he had just drained. He had never been thirstier in his life. "I'll have to try and talk to him before we leave."

"He asks about you often," Grego said, helping himself to a piece of bread.

"You talk to him?" Spiller said, cocking his head, and shooting a sidelong glance at Lupy.

"He and Eggletina still insist he's tame," Lupy said with a frown. "Mind you, I don't trust him and never will, but well, Arrietty had a point when she said it's not like he doesn't know we're here anyway. How is Arrietty, Spiller? Have you made any wedding plans?"

"No, and I don't plan to until next year. I've got enough on my plate. A friend of mine's wife is having a baby in the spring, and I'm trying to find things for them that they need, then Pod and Homily want to be in their new place before winter and I've been trying to help with that. My regular route's been completely disrupted. Halberd here is helping me with that and he's also found a daughter in law for you. That wedding's planned for this fall and I think one at a time is enough. Might do it in the spring, though."

That matter of fact statement caused utter pandemonium. Eggletina shrieked and hugged Halberd, knocking his arm onto the copying pencil, and staining his sleeve with ink. Hendreary grinned and nodded, waggling his beard, and said what wonderful news it was and wishing Halberd all the best while Timmis and Grego seemed stunned. Not as stunned as Lupy was, however.

"Halberd, have you gone mad?" She asked, standing up so quickly that she hit the end of the table, making the dishes dance. "You don't even know this girl that well! What will you do? How will you live?"

"I've been staying with her family since I left here," Halberd said calmly. "I've gotten to know her better and I'll get to know her even better between now and the wedding. Spiller told you that I'm helping him and after the wedding I'm going to move with Hemiola into that old stove by the gypsy camp."

"You can't borrow from gypsies!" Lupy said, collapsing onto her chair. "You don't have the quickness for it."

"I have no experience with caravans. I'll admit that, but I can fish," Halberd said, "and gather fruit and nuts, and Spiller's teaching me some of his other places for borrowing. Hemiola and I can cook on the gas jets and we won't be that far from you. We can come see you sometimes. You'll like her when you meet her. I'm sure you will. Pa, you understand, don't you?"

"I do," Hendreary said, shooting a glance at Lupy, who was speechless for once. "You're old enough to be on your own. I'm happy for you. Do her parents want us at the wedding?"

"Not sure how we'd work that," Spiller said thoughtfully. "The whole lot of you can't go in even my bigger boat but if you and Lupy want to, I could take you, and then the rest can just meet her later after they're at the stove."

"I can run the house while you're gone," Eggletina said quickly.

"We haven't even set a date yet," Halberd said. "We just want it before the snow flies. Don't want to be trying to get settled in the winter."

"Speaking of winter," Hendreary said, "young Tom gave me a moleskin for your new winter suit. Lupy can do a final fitting on it after we're done eating and then next time you come she can have it ready. Can't you, old girl?"

"I suppose," she said, running her hand across her forehead, "but I'm feeling peaky. I have to go lie down for awhile." She left the table with as much dignity as she could muster and Eggletina served shortbread biscuits for dessert while Hendreary and the boys plied Halberd with questions about Hemiola, her family, and some of his adventures with Spiller. 

Eventually Lupy joined them with an injured air of "No one understands me, no one respects me, and you are all cruel" but they pretty much ignored her. When she finally got around to checking Spiller's measurements she said he had grown taller, and that he had gotten much stockier, too. "I'm glad I didn't start the jacket," she grumbled when he slipped off his vest and let her measure around his chest and across his back. "Your shoulders are much broader than they were last year. Do you want the same thing as always, or something different?"

"The same, except I think the bottom of the trousers should be a little wider. Pod made me a pair of boots for autumn and I think he's going to make me a pair for winter, too, so you won't have to worry about that. Can I have some of the moleskin for the lining?"

"I don't see why not," she said shortly, putting away her marked measuring strings.

He watched her for a moment as she sighed and looked out toward the drawing room, where everyone had gone to hear some more of Halberd's stories. "Lupy," he said softly. "Don't be so hard on Halberd. He's grown up now. He wants to act like it. Can't help it."

She sighed again. "I just didn't expect this. I want him to be happy but this is all so sudden. I look up and don't see the man. I see the little boy I knew. I just remember him as a little boy sometimes. Where did the time go?"

"That's the thing about time. It goes," Spiller said, slipping his vest back on.

Lupy looked at him. "Are you really going to marry Arrietty? That's another one. I think of her and I see a little girl in a pinafore peeking out from her nursery while we were having parties under the floor. She loved the musical snuffbox they had. It played three songs and we used to take them in turns and dance."

"She still likes music boxes, and dancing," said Spiller. '"Never had much occasion to dance but I've tried it with her. She makes me feel as if I could do anything."

"I thought this might happen someday," Lupy said, dropping down onto the red velvet upholstered chair that she kept in her sewing room. "Not at first, because she was such a child to me, but there was something different about her when she came here. She wasn't the same child but she wasn't a woman either. She'd gotten very deep, though, and I think it had to do with you. She'd say over and over, 'Where is Spiller? When will he come?' and would creep upstairs in tears when we'd tell her you only came for your suits, unless Tom sent you for something special. There was just something there. I can't explain it but it was always there."

"I think so, too," he said, "from the moment I laid eyes on her." There was a loud thump then that came from downstairs. "That will be young Tom. I think I'll go down and see him now."

Lupy looked alarmed. "Be careful."

"I can handle Tom," Spiller assured her.

He slipped down the ladder and toward the hole in the wainscot. When he poked his head around the log box there was Tom. It couldn't be anyone else, Spiller thought with a start, but he looked so different. He was no longer a boy, but a young man, much taller, and like Spiller, he had gotten much stockier. His face was thinner and his hair was a bit darker. He was sitting in the chair, flopped back, looking sad, with his legs extended straight out, drumming on the table with one hand.

"Hallo," Spiller said, and was rewarded with a smile.

"Spiller? It's you aint' it? Where you been?"

"Yes, it's me. Here and there," Spiller said, walking across the floor toward him. Tom got off the chair and knelt down on one knee, letting one hand lie across the other. "You've certainly grown up."

"Had to," said Tom bitterly. "Grandpa is getting worse and worse, and my uncle couldn't keep me, but we talked it out with Sir Montagueand I got a chance at the gamekeeper's job. I have to make good. There's no other way." He swiped at his eyes. "Grandpa will never be back able to work no more." He took a deep breath to steady himself and asked, "What are you up to? Still riding the river?"

"Some of the time. I spend a lot of time with Pod and Homily and Arrietty. She and I have an understanding. Probably will be getting married next year."

"Married!" Tom cried. "You, married? What do you want to go and do that for? I like Arrietty. Don't mean to say I don't, but girls aren't any use."

Spiller grinned. "Some day you'll feel different. I used to think the same as you. That I didn't need anything or anybody, least of all a girl. But someday you'll meet a girl and decide they're pretty nice."

Tom rocked back on his heels. "I doubt it."

"But do me a favor," Spiller said seriously. "It's important."

Tom sat down on the chair again and leaned forward, his hands on his knees. "What is it?"

"Do you promise?" Spiller asked, arms akimbo, thinking of Pod and how he felt about human beings.

"Yes, I do."

"I don't care if you live to be a hundred. When Arrietty and I marry and have our own place, our own family, I never want you to mention it to anyone. Not a soul, ever. Do you promise?"

Tom blinked. "I promise. Don't know why it matters, though."

"You know a lot about borrowers, about me, and Arrietty, and the rest of them," Spiller said, gesturing toward the log box. "That's fine, but me and Arrietty together, that's different. Never say a word about us together. Promise me that."

"I promise," said young Tom, and he kept that promise for the rest of his days. He never even told young Kate, when the story finally had an end, anything about Spiller and Arrietty's marriage.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Halberd and Spiller stayed two days with Hendreary and Lupy eating mouse stew, roast mouse leg, and helping Lupy skin mice to put in the chimney to smoke, but eventually they got so sick of looking at mice and were so eager to move on that they had to go. They waited until they thought it was late enough that there would be no more bath water in the drain and then they said their goodbyes. Lupy hugged Halberd and cried. He promised her he'd come back as soon as he could.

When they got the drain open Spiller pulled out the bars of soap and let them down to Halberd, who stowed them in the small boat. Young Tom had given Spiller a banana and a hardboiled egg, and Halberd helped Spiller stow the egg in the back of the boat. It took up a lot of room but he and Halberd both agreed that taking some food along was a good idea in case they got held up anywhere.

They also took a set of dollhouse painted plates that Lupy, in a sudden burst of resignation, was sending to Hemiola as an engagement present. Spiller suspected this was just so she would look grand to Daubery and his family but he certainly had no reason to complain so he didn't. She also gave them, at Spiller's request, a section of the waterproof raincoat sleeve like the ones that had been used by Pod when his family had gone away, that Spiller managed to lash around the soap bars to protect them in case of rushing water.

"Hate to have to haul those plates around until we get back to Daubery's place," Spiller said with a sigh as he finished tying up the waterproof, "but they're smaller than this soap I told you that you could take it to her, so who am I to complain?"

"It will be all right now that it's safe from getting wet. Wet won't bother the banana or the egg either. Are we stopping in any of the drains to pick up anything else?" Halberd asked, hoisting the banana to the top of the pile, where it curved over the rest of the load.

"Don't have time if we're going to get out of here by morning and we don't have the room." Spiller checked one more time to see that everything was secure and he and Halberd started pulling the soap box. It seemed to Spiller that he and Halberd were able to move much faster down the drain than he had gone with Pod. Pod, Spiller realized, was getting old and he vowed to make things as easy for him as possible at the mill.

In spite of the weight the soapbox lid slid swiftly over the slime at the bottom of the drain. Halberd wished they had a bit more light but Spiller was used to the darkness and knew the way so well that they managed to move along at a pretty fair pace. When they got at last to the Holcomb branch off they stopped to rest.

"Not that much farther," Spiller said. "Still feel like going straight to Little Fordham or do you want to stop off anyplace else? We could pole back up to Holmcroft and drop off Hemiola's soap and the plates and tell Sateen and Daubery how things went if you want." He missed Arrietty but he thought it would be much easier to drop those things off that stow them somewhere.

Halberd brightened. "Would you mind? I know you really want to get back to Little Fordham and see Arrietty but I'll bet Hemiola's as anxious to hear what happened as Arrietty is to see you."

"Then we'll do it," Spiller decided. They started pulling again. The silt beneath their feet seemed thinner and finally at the end of the tunnel they could see the faint light that signaled a coming dawn. They were almost at the mouth of the drain.

When they finally reached it they pulled the soapbox lid onto the beach and set about unloading the cargo and transferring it to the bigger, knife box boat. That done they debated about whether to not to leave immediately or wait until nightfall, and whether or not to cut the banana and make a meal out of some of it.

Spiller preferred to wait until nightfall and didn't want to cut the banana saying it was easier to transport whole. Halberd bowed to his superior knowledge. Instead they picked some blackberries and a few leaves of sorrel to keep them from getting too hungry. After carefully hiding the soap box they climbed into Spiller's knife box boat where there was more room and had a long nap under the canopy with Spiller rolled up in his quilt and Halberd quite comfortable in the sheep's wool that Spiller always kept tucked in the hold.

When they woke it was twilight. They helped themselves to some rosehips growing nearby, picked some wild garlic to take to Sateen, and began to pole themselves back up the river. It was hard work and Spiller was grateful to take it in turns with Halberd, who was becoming quite good at it. It was totally dark when they got back. They tied the bag of the plates and the burlap bag of garlic to one of the bars of soap with a harness made out of twine and Spiller began to pull it as Halberd walked along behind him carrying the banana. Halfway to the house they switched to share the load. The banana was lighter and more awkward to maneuver but the bundle was heavier and harder to pull.

They were both glad when they were finally in the hall and Daubery could come out and help. Sateen was pleased with the garlic, Hemiola was ecstatic over the soap (she kissed Halberd more times than anyone thought was necessary) and everyone was impressed by the painted plates. Sateen warmed up some soup, made tea, and set out some bread and butter and some nice thick slices of banana, which Spiller and Halberd wolfed down as they took turns explaining how the trip had gone.

"I wish they could come for the wedding," Halberd admitted.

"It would be more proper if they did," Daubery admitted. "If Spiller could bring them back and forth I think we could manage a nice ceremony and a proper wedding dinner, couldn't we, Sateen?"

"Anything you need for it," Spiller assured her, eager to help, "let me know ahead of time and I'll get it for you."

In spite of the fact that they'd slept most of the day away he and Halberd were exhausted by their exertions and were glad to go to bed.

There was banana for breakfast along with toast and jam and everyone spent the day visiting until it was time for Spiller and Halberd to set out at nightfall for Little Fordham. Sateen packed them some buttered buns and a small corked bottle of sugared tea for the trip and there was more kissing and hugging when it was time to say goodbye.

As they paddled down the river they came to the spot where Mild Eye the gypsy had tried to catch Pod, Homily and Arrietty. Halberd examined the mound. It had passed into legend and he liked being able to see it at last. Once they got to the bridge, though, they pulled up, for the cover of night would soon be gone.

"Little Fordham is a two day trip from the drain," Spiller said. "Better get some rest while we can." He tied up in his usual spot under the brambles along the bank. They ate some of their buns, drank tea, and went to sleep under the canopy when the owls came hooting back to their homes in the trees and the sun was rising.

When Halberd woke up it was, as far as he could tell from the angle of the sun, late afternoon and Spiller was gone. He snatched up a piece of bun, and munching it, peered out from under the canopy at the river. It took a moment to find Spiller, who was on the bank under the brambles fishing. Halberd wished he knew Spiller's trick for invisibility. It was more than just being still, or the fact that Spiller had such dark hair and sun browned skin. It was a talent that had been developed over time and Halberd just didn't have the knack for it.

Spiller heard Halberd coming, looked up and pointed to his stringer, which he had firmly attached to a piece of vine dangling in the water. "Have three already. Wish we could cook them but don't want to risk a fire. Too many human beings pass by here. Someone might see the smoke. Homily can do them up for us when we get to Little Fordham. I'd like to just get a couple more so we can each have one. There's some strawberries up that bank do you want to pick a few."

Halberd did. While he was climbing the bank he saw something shiny up near the top, beside what appeared to be a human path. He crept closer being careful to listen for human footsteps on the gravel above. It was a silver cigarette case.

He went back and got Spiller, who set down his pole to come take a look. He congratulated Halberd on the find. "I should have seen that. Wonder who dropped it and if they'll come back looking for it? Let's take a closer look. Should be able to open it."

Together they pushed the button and it finally popped open. The smell of tobacco wafted up. "Hate that smell," said Spiller, closing his eyes for a moment and thinking of the humans sitting around the kitchen at his childhood home, smoking and drinking ale around the fire that soon spread to take away everything Spiller held dear.

"We can get rid of them and do something with the case, can't we?" Halberd asked. "Must be worth a lot to the humans."

"The case is probably good for something, but it's nigh unto impossible to get rid of that smell," Spiller told him. Never the less, they worked it out of the long grass and dragged it down to the boat, one pushing and one pulling.

When it was tucked safely in the cargo area Spiller went back to fishing. He and Halberd just sat companionably, listening to the lapping of the water, nibbling on some hawthorn shoots, and listening to the occasional sound of human footsteps on the path and the bits of conversation that came with them.

"I went down there yesterday and he said…yes, I have…we may need it…and then she told me…" It was like whispers on the wind.

"Humans really are funny things, aren't they?" Halberd said at last. "Not that I know much about them. I mean, Tom's all right, but I've never spoken to any other."

Spiller thought for a moment, and finally said, "Some is all right but most aren't. That being said, the ones at Little Fordham, the ones that built it, seem all right. Almost like borrowers at times. Strange, it is. Arrietty used to speak to one of them quite a bit. Pod told her to stop but she and I still go see them occasionally. Come in handy they do but you mustn't tell Pod or Homily a thing about it. These two is useful at the moment. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Halberd assured him. "I know after what Pod and Homily went through they've got a right to be distrustful but where would we have all been if Arrietty hadn't found out from Tom that his grandfather was going to hospital that time? Or if he hadn't helped you get them out of that caravan? As long as you're careful and know what you can do and what you can't with this Little Fordham lot, I won't say a word to anyone."

"Fair enough," said Spiller, putting another minnow on the stringer. "That's enough and it's almost dark. Let's tie the stringer to the back of the boat so the fish stay cool and we'll get ready to go."

When they got to Little Fordham it was very late. Spiller was reminded of the night he had first arrived with Arrietty and her parents. He smiled, remembering that night and thinking about everything that had happened since then.

The fence, which was built to wrap around Mr. Pott's port, the shipping and custom houses, was spoiling the view a bit but other than that, the moonlight on the village, the difficulty dragging supplies through the thick rushy grasses, and Halberd's round eyes at the sight of the port, train tracks, and the village itself were very familiar to Spiller.

Halberd liked the church although the silent, immobile vicar standing on the church steps in his cassock unnerved him. He longed to examine each house and shop and kept shaking his head and muttering, almost breathless with wonder, "It's just like the stories say it is. Mother would never believe it."

"Aye, it is," Spiller agreed, tying his boat up against the dock for once, instead of hiding it in the rushes along the river. If anyone saw it they'd probably just think it was part of the scenery and if the stove was ready it would be easier to load from the dock than from the bank. He suspected, rightly enough, that Miss Menzies already knew where he hid his boat anyway, and at any rate, he didn't expect to be there for long.

Making a sled out of the soap bar, as they had done before, they rigged up a sling on top of it for the hardboiled egg. Spiller hooked his stringer of fish to the back of the waterproof around the soap, and piled his and Halberd's gear awkwardly on top of the pile. Then they started hauling. It was easy across the grass but much harder when they had to cross the tracks and then again when they got to the street.

After much huffing, puffing, swearing and grumbling, they finally reached the Crown and Anchor. "Be quiet," said Spiller. "I sleep in the back off the kitchen and the rest sleep upstairs in the front. If we're lucky we won't wake anyone."

They got the things into the kitchen. Spiller slipped into his bedroom, lit a candle, then came back to the bedroom doorway and looked at Halberd in the dim light. "If you need to wash up we can fill up the pitcher on my washstand. But don't splash about and make a lot of noise. Homily and Pod need their eight hours." He handed Halberd his pitcher and helped himself got a glass of cool water from the tap.

"A real working sink, just our size!" Halberd whispered, still awed, looking around as he filled the pitcher, "and real dishes, and pots, and glasses, and a table cloth, and look at that cunning stove!"

"Yes," Spiller whispered back. "You'll see it all in the morning. Now let's get ready for bed. You can have my bed. I can sleep on the rug on the floor in my quilt. Just let me get the fish into water so they don't go bad."

He filled up the sink, put in the fish, and pulled his and Halberd's gear off the pile. He wrinkled his nose, not wanting to think of what Homily would say about this mixture of lavender and minnow scent when she came down to get breakfast.

Halberd couldn't get over the furniture, the blankets, and Spiller's wash basin with the scrap of sandalwood soap, neatly stacked towels and wash cloths. They washed up as best as they could and Spiller finally got Halberd to lie down.

He looked at Spiller, curled up on the rag rug in his quilt, and asked, "Why do they want to leave here? Hemiola would love Little Fordham. I think I'd love it. It seems like a perfect world."

Spiller rolled onto his back and looked up. "The houses are comfortable enough but you've got all the humans that come visiting in the summer to deal with, the noise of the trains, and the dust, and then what would you do in the winter? You'd be scrambling for food and fuel after the snow falls."

"I'd think you could work it out somehow. It's not any different than having to store up for winter anywhere else," Halberd started to argue, but Spiller, who wanted to get some sleep before Homily got up and started banging pots in the kitchen, cut him off.

"You'll get a better idea of how things are in the morning." And then they both got quiet, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

Spiller was wakened, just as he had suspected he would be, by a loud shriek of, "Look at my sink! Just look at it!"

He rolled over and grinned as Halberd bolted upright looking around confused. "Homily just found the fish," Spiller said dryly, sitting up and throwing off the quilt. He stood up and stretched, just as she stuck her head around the bedroom door.

"Spiller, you're the finest fisherman I've ever seen and no mistake, and there's nothing better than fresh fried fish, but it's going to take me the rest of the morning to get that sink clean…oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!"

"Mother? Mother, what's wrong?" Spiller heard Arrietty say, as Halberd got sheepishly to his feet and his aunt launched herself at him.

"The dear boy! I never thought I'd see you again! Fine thing, Spiller, to bring him back here and not even give us a bit of warning!" Clean up both you and go into the pub. If I can get around these dratted fish I'll make you breakfast."

"We've got a hardboiled hen's egg, Auntie," said Halberd, returning her hug. "We can eat that. I could do with a cup of tea, though."

"That I can manage," Homily said, shaking her head at Spiller again."I can fill the kettle without moving the fish." She walked out as Arrietty came in, and launched herself at Spiller the way Homily had done to Halberd, only she gave kisses as well as hugs.

"Oh, Spiller, I didn't expect you today. I am so glad to see you! And you!" Arrietty said, turning to Halberd. "Getting married! My goodness! Yes, get ready for breakfast. I'll go get Papa. He'll be so pleased to see you, to see both of you."

Halberd got a piece of razor blade out of his kit, and went to the washstand to shave. "She really has grown up! You're a lucky man."

"I think so, too," Spiller said, rolling up his quilt, and getting his own things out. When he was as clean as he ever got, and Halberd was fully dressed and groomed, they went into the front of the Crown where Pod was putting down a platter of egg slices as Arrietty was setting the largest table.

Halberd was so amazed by the miniature pub that they had to give him a few minutes to look around and then a tour of the upstairs, in spite of a call from Homily that she was ashamed of how cluttered the master bedroom and the workroom were at the moment. Everything delighted him.

As they came back down the stairs, he ran his hand along the railing, admiring the craftsmanship, and asked, "Are all of the buildings furnished?"

"No, not all of them, not completely," Arrietty said. Pod went back to the kitchen to help Homily and Arrietty dropped her voice. "Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott did up the cottage we used to live in but then Mother and Papa didn't feel safe there after we got taken that time so then they did up this one. I don't think Papa knows yet that they made it up just for us because it would be harder to get at."

Homily and Pod came back out then with the tea, bread and butter. As they ate they talked about the drain, Lupy's resigned attitude toward Halberd's wedding, and the painted plates she had send Hemiola as a wedding gift.

"The ones from the doll house cupboard at Firbank Hall?" Homily said, her voice rising, but Pod kicked her lightly under the table. She gave him a resentful look but managed to quiet herself. Pod didn't want Halberd feeling bad about that after so much water under the bridge. Homily's resentment that Lupy had wound up with so many of the things Homily had used under the floor ran deep but there was nothing to be done about it.

"I think it's nice that Halberd and his young lady will be able to start off with something so nice," Pod said firmly, and when Spiller and Arrietty quickly agreed with this, Homily gave them a martyred look, and finally agreed, too.

Halberd began to tell them about what a good pilot Spiller was and what a good teacher. This they could all agree on. Even Homily praised him to the skies which both pleased and embarrassed him. He still remembered the day he'd met her when she'd called him a naughty, dirty, unwashed boy. What the difference was between dirty and unwashed he had never figured out.

When Halberd said he had seen the mound where they'd had their encounter with Mild Eye, Pod couldn't say enough about Spiller's quick thinking that day, and how he had never once thought to cut the fishing line. He would regret, he said, losing his head that way until the end of his days.

Spiller finally changed the subject to how well Halberd was doing on the river just so they would have something else to talk about besides him. "He's even getting better at night which is the hardest thing to get used to. I hope he's that good tonight. I want to make good time heading back down river."

"Tonight?" Arrietty cried. "You're leaving again tonight? But you've only just got back! I thought we'd be able to have a nice long visit with Halberd."

"Yes," Homily said. "We want to hear all about the wedding. I expect Sateen is just thrilled to have a wedding dinner to plan."

"I didn't expect to be back this soon," Spiller pointed out. "We made a deal, Ari. You know I've got things to do."

"But I had so hoped to show Halberd the village, and the trains," she said a bit sulkily.

Spiller frowned. This was the one thing he feared if he and Arrietty were to remain a couple. She had to understand his work and accept that he had to hunt and fish and borrow, and that she could not always come along. He had to keep up his skills and not have everything handed to him by a pair of human beings, and there were many things he could not do as well with Arrietty along. Human beings came and went, some good and some bad, but in the end borrowers had to be able to fend for themselves.

"That would be nice," Homily said, changing the direction of the conversation. "When he gets back home, he can tell Lupy…"

"We can do the rounds today," Spiller said, not wanting her to start in on Lupy in front of Halberd and thinking that would be a good excuse to go check on the stove with Mr. Pott. "Then we can take a nap in the afternoon and be off."

"I don't like it when you're out in the daylight," Pod warned, but Spiller pointed out that Mr. Pott worked on weekdays and only had visitors on weekends now. "With that wooden leg, we can hear him coming a long way off anyway."

Pod, grumbling, finally agreed.

"We will all keep watch, Papa," Arrietty said. "We'll be careful. If Spiller thinks it's safe, it's safe. No human sees him unless he wants them to."

"Wants them to?" Pod exclaimed.

"If he hadn't of gone and gotten young Tom the gypsies would have us in a birdcage," Arrietty said.

"That's no way to speak to your father," Homily said, moving the egg, "and I still think it would be nice for Halberd to see what it's like here. Like I said, when he gets home and is speaking to Lupy…"

"I give up!" Pod shouted, throwing up his hands. "Just don't start that again!"

"Come on, then," Spiller said quickly, nodding to Halberd and taking Arrietty by the hand. "Let's go scout things out." He pulled her through the hall past the kitchen and out the back door as Halberd followed them.

"Now, " Arrietty said, when they were all outside of the Crown and the door was shut. "What are we really going to do today?"

"Show Halberd the town," Spiller said nonchalantly, as Arrietty stared at him, "and all right then, I have to talk to Mr. Pott and Miss Menzies about something. Know where he is?"

"Haven't seen him all day so he's either doing something at his house or away," Arrietty answered.

"Village first then," Spiller decided. He and Arrietty walked through the village carefully with Halberd, watching for any sign of human beings, but there were none. They took Halberd to see the station and the signal box, and explained to him how Mr. Pott had lost his leg when the badger had bitten it and he had fallen in the path of the train.

"Does he really look like that?" Halberd asked doubtfully, looking at the effigy in the signal box with the matchstick leg.

"Quite a bit," said Spiller, nodding.

Halberd was surprised by details of the station. "I thought you said not all the buildings were done up."

"This one was the first," Arrietty explained, "and I think he just did it to see how close he could get to the original one he knew so well."

She told him all about Miss Menzies and how she helped Mr. Pott. Arrietty also told Halberd how she had been startled by the beetle the first night Spiller had brought her there, and how they had found toadstools in the ticket office. "My mother keeps it clean for him now, even though she thinks he doesn't know it. It's quite touching really. She loved it here so much until that other lot took us. I should never have told my parents that Mr. Pott and Miss Menzies knew about us."

'Yes, you should," Spiller said. "Secrets like that would have been hard to keep."

"Miss Menzies sounds like she's all right, Halberd said slowly. "This lot sounds useful like Tom."

"She thought we were fairies at first. Can you imagine anyone mistaking Papa or Spiller for a fairy?" Arrietty laughed. "She makes a living designing Christmas cards and writing children's books, and she half believed in fairies until she met us. Now she thinks fairies are just glimpses people get of borrowers. It turned out all right, though, because now she's gotten all sorts of ideas and is writing books about fairies. They're making her a lot of money. She buys things for us sometimes with that money."

"That's why I want to see them today," Spiller said. "Don't tell Pod or Homily but Pott's having the blacksmith make me a pot bellied stove like that one in the station to take to the mill. Homily will have her stove after all. Just won't be as big as the one at the Crown. Halberd's going to help me take it to the mill and set it up. Can't carry it by meself. Then when you all get there it will be ready to use."

Arrietty just glowed at that. "Mother will love that! Oh, thank you, Spiller, and you too, Halberd." She kissed Spiller and they stood there for awhile holding each other and continuing the kiss until Halberd cleared his throat.

"Now I know what that feels like to watch," he said ruefully. "Not sure if I like it. What else is there to see?"

They went past the church, which was much more impressive in the day light, with the neat little graveyard set with tiny headstones. They went into the village shop and all agreed how wonderful it would be if everything in it was real.

"I don't know what we'd use for money, though," Arrietty mused.

Spiller reached out to her fine hairdo and pulled one curl down and out of the neat pile on her head to tease her. "Don't need money. Be the end of borrowers if we ever had any. Barter will always be the best way for us."

"For you," she answered, stealing another kiss but keeping this one short. "Let's show him Vine Cottage." They walked over to it and as they went up the High Street she explained how Spiller had helped her plant the garden and how Miss Menzies had dropped the lock for the door by the thistle to make the borrowing easy, but how in the end the lock had not helped. They went in through the back and she pointed out the battery shed. They looked around the kitchen and tried the electric light, which Halberd didn't like anymore than Arrietty did, and he glanced around the bedrooms.

"Hemiola would like this," he said with a sigh.

"Well, maybe sometimes in the summer you two can come and visit," Arrietty suggested. "I don't know if you'll always want to live in the stove. Won't it get awfully hot in the summer being iron and having the gas burners lit and all? Summer is the best time here. You have to stay indoors in the daytime on the weekends, but the borrowings after the visitors leave are practically endless."

Spiller looked around thoughtfully. "She has a point."

Then they walked over to Mr. Pott's house. There was no one in the scullery, but Spiller and Arrietty showed Halberd around there and the kitchen anyway, since the kitchen door was ajar. There was a huge bowl of fruit on the kitchen table and with the help of a pin and a piece of hem tape borrowed from Miss Menzies' sewing basket, Spiller got up and pushed down the smallest apple he could find and a paring knife. "Watch out below," he called as the latter came down. It stuck ominously between two floorboards and stood quivering.

When Spiller got down they cut the apple and began to eat on the mat by the kitchen sink. "I like apples," he said. "Good for your teeth, they are."

"You do have lovely white teeth," Arrietty assured him. She liked the way they flashed when he grinned, so bright against his sun tanned skin. As Halberd handed Arrietty a thick slice of apple she said ruefully, "I really do owe you an apology."

"What for?" Halberd asked, startled.

"I never knew you were nice!" Arrietty exclaimed. "I didn't remember you from under the floor and when we went to live at the gamekeeper's cottage I never tried to get to know you. I thought you didn't like me. You and Grego never said anything to me, only Timmis. We used to go up to our room and sit and wonder why we couldn't do anything right."

"I never knew you were, either! That wasn't your fault, though" Halberd said. "I guess I owe you an apology, too. I still thought of you as a little kid. I didn't try to get to know you because everything was so hard when you and your parents came. I wasn't very happy then. My mother and father were giving me such a hard time and my mother really didn't want to live with your parents. My father was glad to see you but even he was worried when you came. There weren't a lot of borrowings in the cottage to begin with and we didn't know how we were going to handle things. Then there was the furniture, of course. My mother knew all along that your lot were the last borrowers in the big house and thought your mother would resent them getting everything even if they didn't ask for it."

"She did," Arrietty said, taking another piece of apple. "She and your mother never liked each other anyway. They're both nice enough alone. Your mother is a wonderful cook and keeps the house really well, and Mother can be very sweet, but they just aren't any good together."

"They both get on me nerves at times," Spiller interjected, and both Halberd and Arrietty burst out laughing.

"But Spiller, we do have to give you credit for making us both happier people," Halberd said with a grin. "Right, Ari? I like that…when he calls you Ari. I think it's cute."

"Right," she said, laughing even harder. "Spiller the hero always saves the day."

Spiller shook his head. "Ridiculous you are the both of you!"

Arrietty sobered then. "No, we're not. You always came along just when we needed you and you still do. You are my hero. Thank you, Spiller," and with that she kissed him again.

They heard noise coming from the front of the house then, Miss Menzies laughing and Mr. Pott's odd thumping tread. Halberd looked up, startled, and asked Arrietty what they should do. He was a bit puzzled when the answer turned out to be nothing.

"I'll go put the kettle on," they heard Miss Menzies say, and when she stepped into the kitchen, Spiller said as loudly as he could, "Hallo. Borrowed an apple, I did. All right that?"

Miss Menzies hand flew to her throat, "Oh, Spiller! You startled me! Of course it is, dear, but how in the world did you get at that knife? You're lucky you didn't kill yourself. Hello, Arrietty."

Her soft violet eyes settled on Halberd and looking up into them he stopped being afraid. Her lips curved into a smile, and in spite of her graying hair, this tall, thin woman seemed almost childlike, and borrowers always fared fairly well with children. "Why, who is your friend?" She asked, and her voice seemed high and filled with mirth. She was obviously glad to see them, very glad indeed.

"This is Arrietty's cousin, Halberd," Spiller said.

"My goodness," she said. "We had a halberd at dear Gladstone. The axe, of course, not a person. What a powerful name. A battle axe, you know. Sixteenth Century, I think or perhaps fifteenth? Anyway, welcome to Little Fordham. You must stay for tea. We're having sandwiches and scones and I made the most wonderful ginger biscuits. They aren't exactly my favorite but Abel likes them and they really did come out well." She turned and called into the hall, "Abel dear, please come. Arrietty and Spiller have brought someone to meet us." Coming back into the room she picked up the knife and shook her head. "You really must be careful. We don't want you to get hurt."

"Know what I can do and what I can't," Spiller said. "I'll have a bit of tea and a biscuit, but I'm not sure if I can finish a sandwich or a scone, after all this apple. Should've waited for you. Sorry."

"That's all right," Miss Menzies assured him. "If you were hungry, you were hungry. I'm sure I speak for Abel when I say that anything you want here is yours to have. Perhaps you can take some back to Pod and Homily. We have curried egg salad, and a roast beef with horseradish on rye. I brought a set of my dollhouse china down here for when you come to visit. Let me wash it up. It might have gotten a bit dusty" She took a small box from the cupboard, wiped everything off with quick strokes and then put the kettle on as Mr. Pott stumped into the room.

"There he is," Pott said, spotting Spiller. "Just came from the blacksmith we did. Got the stove. Glad to see you, boy. You can see if it's what you want. Think it'll do."

Miss Menzies spoke quickly. "Arrietty brought her cousin, Halberd, to meet us. I invited them to stay for tea. We can take care of the stove after that. What are you going to want us to do with it, Spiller?"

"Tied me boat up at the shipping dock," he said. "Could you help us get it back there?"

"Not a problem," Pott said, dropping down into a chair, and extending his wooden leg. "I take it the others don't know you're here?"

"No," Spiller said, "but Halberd won't tell 'em. He knows how it is. He's the one I told you was getting married."

"I made you something special," Miss Menzies said, putting water in the kettle and leaving the tea to steep. "I hope you like it." She went and crouched down next to her sewing basket behind the door and pulled out a rolled up something that looked very familiar to Spiller. Sure enough, when she slipped off the yarn holding it, a quilt rolled out. She set it very carefully in front of Halberd. It was a lovely pattern of hexagons in bright pastel prints that looked like flowers.

"Oh, Ma'am that's lovely," Halberd said, struck by the beauty of it.

"That pattern is called honeycomb," Miss Menzies said. "It's the most intricate one I've ever done this size. You take it with you and give it to your young lady." She very gently handed him the pieces of yarn to tie it back up with, and while Spiller rolled it expertly and held it still while Halberd tied it, she rose in a fluid motion and went to fetch the sandwiches and scones. She put two of each kind of sandwich, a scone cut into thirds with some blackberry jam, and a couple of ginger biscuits on a saucer.

"Now that I have that quilt made, I'm going to start on something for that friend of yours who is expecting," Miss Menzies said, as the borrowers, divided up the food on their saucer.

Arrietty had a cup of tea, a piece of ginger biscuit, and part of an egg salad sandwich, but she wasn't that fond of curry, or horseradish, either. She slipped Spiller the rest of her sandwich when Miss Menzies was pouring more tea. He took a bite and thought he'd died and gone to the human's heaven.

"Right good this curry is!" he exclaimed. "I could eat this again for sure. If you wouldn't mind packing us a bag I think Pod would like it, too."

"He'd like the beef, I think," said Halberd. "Wish my dad could try this."

"I have a bag I can pack some in for you. Arrietty," said Miss Menzies, "you'll never guess what I heard. Ballyhoggin is closing. Mabel Platter passed away and Mr. Platter is moving away. I don't know where he's going and I don't care. After what he did! I'll never forgive him for that! A man from somewhere on the coast bought the land."

"Brighton," Mr. Pott said, reaching for another roast beef sandwich. "Heard he's from Brighton and the man has no end of money. Made it all in shipping."

Halberd looked at Arrietty. "Is that the same Mabel that locked you in the attic?"

"Yes, and I heard he's tearing down a whole lot of Mr. Platter's villas and making an estate out of the place. The Platter's house is going to be where his groundskeeper is going to live. I don't know what will become of the model railway," Miss Menzies said.

"Them villas weren't that nice anyway," Pott said, swallowing a beef sandwich in one bite, "and after we had the trouble I asked around. They say when he did funerals, he always padded the bill. Always knew he was as crooked as a snake. Wonder how much he spent burying her."

Miss Menzies shuddered, and leaned down to pour the borrowers some more tea. "I never do like funeral directors. I know someone has to bury the dead but it seems like such an unseemly business." She took her napkin and brushed some crumbs from her scone off her hands. "Spiller, that stove is rather heavy, especially when you consider the weight of the tile we got to set it on. Are you sure your boat can manage it?"

"If it's loaded right," he answered, breaking the last ginger biscuit into thirds and sharing it out.

Miss Menzies sat back down, and she and Mr. Pott explained to Halberd how Little Fordam had developed and grown. When he said he'd like to bring Hemiola to see it they both assured him she would be welcome.

"I would so like to meet her," Miss Menzies said, "if she wouldn't be too afraid of us."

When they were done eating Miss Menzies packed a bag for them, with several ginger biscuits, two of each kind of sandwich, and a whole scone. Then after lining the market basket with a kitchen towel she put in the bag, and the borrowers climbed in and sat beside it. Mr. Pott got the package with the stove and pipes in it, and the tile that was supposed to go under it.

"Do you want me to open this so you can see 'em?" Pott asked. "It's just as I said it would be."

"Don't have to do that," Spiller assured him, pausing to look back as he scaled the side of the basket.

Pott went out the back door, with Miss Menzies following him, carrying the basket. "Let me know if I jostle you too much," she said.

"We're fine," Arrietty assured her.

With some skillful maneuvering on Spiller's part they got the piece of tile in the bottom of the barge, and the pieces of pipe and the stove in, too. To make room Spiller slid out the silver cigarette case and offered it to Mr. Pott. "Found this on the riverbank," Spiller told him. "Someone must've dropped it. You take it. It must be worth a lot." When Mr. Pott tried to refuse it, Spiller pointed out that they didn't need the extra weight in the boat and Pott finally agreed to hold onto it for Spiller.

Then Mr. Pott let Halberd, Spiller and Arrietty take a ride on the train. They went all the way around twice, and Halberd was bug-eyed with wonder. Finally Mr. Pott shut the train down, and the borrowers got out.

Then Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott went back to the house, and the borrowers, all working together to carry the bag of food, went back to the Crown and Anchor where Pod and Homily fussed over the borrowings.

"We were worried about you," Homily said. "We heard the train and we never hear the train this late in the day during the week. We thought you'd be seen."

"We're fine. That Pott was just working on something down by the station," Spiller said hastily, and he and Halberd and Spiller went to take a nap before setting off down the river. Pod, Homily and Arrietty went upstairs to the workroom so their guests could sleep. Homily and Arrietty were making dresses from a fine silk scarf that one of the visitors had dropped, and Pod was making himself new shoes. He had made them for everyone else and neglected his own, and he wanted to make a new pair and get them broken in before the family moved into the mill.

As they all worked they chatted about Halberd's upcoming wedding, the lovely smell of Arrietty's new soap, which was being stored in the spare bedroom, to keep the smell away from the food, and Homily talked quite a bit about how she was going to fry the fish for a nice meal before the young men went on their trip.

"Wish we could eat the sandwiches," she said, "because I don't want that egg salad to spoil, but speaking of smells, that fish is enough to drive me out of the kitchen. The scone and the biscuits will keep, but not the sandwiches, especially that egg salad."

"Cook the fish then, and let Halberd and Spiller take the egg salad with them," suggested Arrietty. "The roast beef is enough for us for tomorrow. They can eat the egg salad while they're traveling." When her mother agreed that Arrietty had made a very good suggestion, Arrietty put down her needle and sighed. "I wish I could go with them. I love traveling with Spiller."

"You need to get your wardrobe in tip top shape," Homily told her. "When we get to the mill we won't have the pickings we have here to sew with. Once we get the dresses done, we need to make some new vests and petticoats. There's a nice handkerchief we can use for that, and if we have enough left, and I think we will, your father needs a new shirt."

"But what will we do all day there?" Arrietty asked, crossly, picking up the needle again and starting to set the sleeves in her dress.

"There will be lots to do, young lady," Pod said firmly. "There will be unpacking to do, and things to get sorted and set up. We have a long way to go on that. And we've taken a lot of yarn to the mill. You and your mother can spend the winter knitting."

Arrietty sighed. That was not how she wanted to spend the next few months of her life. Under the floor to her meant back in prison, and she was not looking forward to it. She had no problem helping Pod and Homily get set up, but once that was done, she had every intention of either pressing Spiller to make wedding plans for the two of them, or at least take her visiting. Oh, well, she had at least two or three months left before they had to be out of Little Fordham.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The next few weeks were filled with wonderful days for Spiller and Halberd. After they left Little Fordham to go to the mill they were so stuffed with fish and bread and ginger biscuits that they had to take turns napping and paddling all the way downriver, in spite of their naps earlier in the day. The warm July evening and their overstuffed bellies made them feel lazy.

They finally had to pull over and lazed around again until evening came. They were very grateful for the sandwiches which not only tasted wonderful but kept them from having to stop and do more fishing or some hunting.

The river was calm and the weather was beautiful. When they finally arrived at the mill they managed to get the stove dragged into Pod's new flat and hooked up. Spiller showed Halberd around and he was very impressed by the way the new home was shaping up but he was a bit afraid of the river. The second day they were there it started to rain and made Halberd even more nervous.

"Rivers mean flooding," he said flatly, and Spiller had to admit that this was true, but as he pointed out, this mill was solidly built and had been there for years and the rooms they were setting up were as far away from the river as they could be, under the storerooms and nowhere near the working area of the mill.

"It would take an awfully big storm to cause them any trouble," Spiller said.

"But it's possible on the river," Halberd argued.

"I couldn't think of anyplace else that would appeal to Pod," Spiller said with a sigh. "This mill was the first thing that popped into my head. I've known about it since I was a boy and it really does suit Pod. He doesn't want to be where there are a lot of humans and he doesn't want borrower neighbors too close. He's uneasy in the town, in spite of the fact that the humans aren't that much of a threat anymore, which is a shame because it really is ideal. He's not suited to my kind of life, either, always on the move."

"When you are Arrietty get married you'll have to have some kind of a home base," Halberd pointed out.

"If we marry," Spiller said, "we'll figure something out. At least she's not set on being in a house all the time and afraid of camping."

Halberd caught the word if in Spiller's explanation, and frowned at his friend. "Don't tell me that you still have doubts about Arrietty! I can't understand it. Both of you seem to go back and forth on what you want."

Spiller kicked away some of the bits they had chipped out of the chimney to attach the stove, and double checked a piece of the pipe. "I've never met anyone who suited me as well as Arrietty does and I've never wanted anyone as much as I want her. It's going to happen but it's all a question of when it's going to happen. Some days we feel more ready than other days. We have time, though. She's not even eighteen yet, and I'm just nineteen. There's no rush. Maybe we'll set a date in the spring."

As they worked, though, Spiller thought about Arrietty, how she would feel about being under a floor again, and wondered if it really was his job to rescue her by pushing for a wedding date. That made him feel stressed. He took out his anxiety affixing pipes and arranging rooms, and making the walls sturdier. In the room next to the water pipes he and Halberd made small holes with plugs so that there would be running water.

"I wish this was closer to the stove," Spiller said with a sigh. "Homily's spoiled now from having a whole kitchen with everything laid on in one place."

"Make this a bathroom," Halberd suggested. "Running water is nice in a bathroom, too. And it's not that far from the kitchen that they can't fill up a kettle when they need to."

"That's a thought," Spiller agreed. "They have a soap dish they were using as a bathtub upstairs at your parent's place. I can bring that here next time I come."

After a few days at the mill the rain stopped and they went to Daubery's house to drop off some flour and were spoiled by Hemiola and Sateen for several more days with good food and cheerful conversation.

Then they went to see Burgonet and Arista, stopping at the stove on the way so that Spiller and Halberd could spend a few days getting used to the movements of the gypsies in the caravans and do some hunting.

This did not go well. Halberd was too hesitant when it came to the gypsies, but it did seem like there were more of them in the area than ever before, ones that Spiller was not familiar with, and that made things even riskier.

Halberd would go out with Spiller at night, after the gypsies were all asleep and check out around the fire, but he didn't have the nerve to borrow from the unfamiliar caravans, which even made Spiller nervous. If Mild Eye ever saw him, he'd be lucky to get away with his life. Spiller then tried to teach Halberd how to shoot his bow and arrow, and at first he was terrible at it. But he got a little better as July faded away and August started.

Halberd was getting much better at fishing and Spiller promised to make him a stringer out of small safety pins and wire, just like his. They collected a lot of grain and nuts to store in the tunnel at the back of the stove. Halberd was a good gatherer. They dined almost every night on fish and dandelion greens, sorrel salad, and occasionally on a mouse that Spiller brought down.

After about a week of this they thought they had the stove pretty much ready for instant inhabitation after the wedding. They went back to Arista and Burgonet next taking blackberries and chestnuts. Arista was feeling better and they were both looking forward to the New Year and the new baby.

Burgonet and Halberd got along very well. Burgonet and Arista were more enthusiastic about Halberd's wedding plans than Spiller could even pretend to be. Halberd's wedding plans made Spiller feel trapped, which was, he knew, unfair, since he was the one who kept opening his big mouth about marrying Arrietty.

It rained for another three days so they stayed longer than they expected to but they had a wonderful time eating Arista's home cooked meals. If you looked hard enough, Spiller thought, she did look a little bigger around the waist, but she wasn't too bit yet. He found himself wondering if the baby was a boy or a girl, even though Burgonet said he didn't care as long as it was healthy.

Spiller and Halberd helped Burgonet borrow from the vicar's kitchen every night. Burgonet and Arista told Halberd how much they would like to meet Hemiola and asked Spiller to come back with Arrietty soon.

This he was happy to agree to. He was starting to miss her in spite of the cloud of marriage hanging over his head. Arista had some tea and rice that she wanted to send to Lupy and so finally Halberd agreed to head home for a visit with his parents.

Lupy was glad happy to get the rice, which Tom and his grandfather never ate and therefore never had available to be borrowed, and to see Halberd. Everyone wanted to hear all about the wanderer's adventures. The stories Halberd told about Little Fordham made Lupy as jealous as Homily could have wished. He described the houses, the church, the shops, the port and custom houses, and of course the railway.

Spiller couldn't wait to tell Homily so, and added some more descriptions to Halberd's although both of them were careful not to mention that they had ridden the train as the honored guests of the human beings.

"Can I go see Little Fordham sometime?" Timmis asked wistfully. "I would so love to ride a train."

"Perhaps when you're older," Spiller assured him. Besides helping Halberd tell stories, Spiller also spent some time with young Tom, who gave him some candles and matches, talking about everything the gypsies had been up to that summer. Spiller would have liked to have spent more time with him but they could only talk properly when Tom's grandfather was asleep. Luckily, the old man went to bed early.

Spiller decided that he would leave Halberd with Lupy and Hendreary, and make his way back to Little Fordham to see Arrietty. He was hoping he could coax her to come on a trip with him. The candles would be more useful at the mill than at Lupy's place, because she had plenty of wax to make her own, though, so he decided to give Lupy the matches and go back there on his own with the candles. Halberd went down the drain with him to help him carry them and the soap dish that Pod had borrowed for bathing when he had been living in the cottage. They lashed it tightly to Spiller's soapbox boat.

They started a bit too early and got caught by a late night bather near Holmcroft. They had to climb one of Spiller's piles of sticks. They each held onto a candle wick and one side of the rope holding the boat for dear life until the water went down, hoping hard the candles and the china soap dish would not get broken.

"It's not the wet I was afraid of," Spiller said ruefully when they could finally get down. "It's always the fact that things might break." They got to the end of the tunnel about one o'clock in the morning. "Don't dawdle," Spiller told Halberd. "Get back as quickly as you can. If the morning comes and the baths start, just hoist yourself up on my sticks until it passes. I have them jammed in before and after every drain.

"You be all right now?" Spiller asked Halberd as they loaded his boat, wondering what Lupy would have to say when Spiller was gone, but he was eager to go. The night was unusually humid, almost steamy, and the river was smooth, as if it, too, was lazing in the heat.

"I'll be all right," Halberd said. "If I get too out of sorts, I'll either come through here or cut through the woods to the river and take my raft down to see Hemiola."

Spiller told him to be careful. He got into the boat, and Halberd told him the same, helping him to untie first one end, then the other. Halberd watched Spiller push off down the river and waved until he could not see his friend anymore. Then he went back to the mouth of the drain and began the long walk back to the opening under the mangle. Spiller really is the cleverest person I know, Halberd thought, as he passed by each pile of sticks. He had half a mind to climb up a pipe himself, to see what he could find but decided he wasn't quite ready to that alone.

Spiller was perfectly content to be alone, at first. He had not had the chance to be alone for awhile. He was happy to arrange his boat just the way he liked it without having to worry about anyone else. He set up the familiar butter knife paddle, his knitting needle for punting, the pile of sheep's wool under the canopy, hung up his bow, arrow, stringer and then moved his quilt, neatly rolled up, to his favorite spot. He rode the river for awhile. And then, hot and tired, tied up his boat under a bunch of brambles and went for a swim. He ate some rosehips, a bit of hawthorn, and went to sleep.

When it was night again he headed toward the mill. He managed to get the candles into Homily's new storeroom and the china soap dish into the new bathroom. While the miller was sleeping Spiller raided his kitchen quite thoroughly.

He helped himself to a banana, a slice of bread, and while he was upstairs loaded three burlap bags full of wheat grains, which, when moistened, made excellent cereal for borrowers. He put two in his boat, and left one in the storeroom for Homily. He knew it would be awhile before Pod got the nerve to borrow from the miller. He would want to get used to the old man's habits and more used to the way the mill was laid out first. Pod was so cautious it got on Spiller's nerves sometimes. He knew what he could do and what he couldn't and once Spiller made up his mind he moved quickly.

He ate half of the bread slice, washed it down with some cold water and cut himself a chunk of banana. When he was through, he folded the peel back over the top of the banana and loaded it and the other items into the boat. He headed toward Daubery's place arriving just after dawn. As he was tying the boat up Spiller glanced further down the river, to the bend that he never took, and sighed deeply.

When he got outside Daubery's place Spiller took his bow and hunted for frog. Frog's legs were a delicacy that Sateen didn't get very often. When the front of his boat was filled with dead frogs, he took a bag of wheat and went to get help.

Sateen was the only one up, stirring the fire into life, but when Spiller explained about the frogs, the banana and the bread, she woke up Daubery and Hemiola to help bring in the cargo. Hemiola had no problems with helping Spiller carry the banana and the rest of the slice of bread, but she drew the line at dead frogs. Her father rolled his eyes at her but he and Spiller soon had all the frogs in the hallway.

They took them to a room off Daubery's flat, that had been lined with a piece of tile, and cut them up. While Spiller and Daubery cleaned up the mess Sateen and Hemiola took the meat into the kitchen. They would begin to cook it after breakfast was done.

"We'll have a good supper tonight," Sateen said. "I just wish Halberd could be here with us. We all miss him."

"He's having a nice visit with his family, no doubt," Daubery said, as he had Hemiola heat water up so that he could have a bath. Even Spiller needed a wash after cutting up frogs. To his delight Hemiola was so grateful to him for coming up with a husband for her she actually emptied the hobnail patterned glass trinket dish that they used as a tub and gave him clean hot water when it was his turn. It soothed his sore muscles and relaxed him. He sat in the hot water for so long that he nearly dozed off. It had been a long night. Daubery had to shout to him to tell him his food was getting cold.

"Come along," Daubery said. "We have a right proper fry up here."

That was certainly true. There was bacon, mashed potato cakes fried to a proper golden brown, sausages, baked beans and a fried egg. They also each had a slice of banana, knowing full well it would not last long. The whole family ate as if they were starving, and for the ones who had gotten up early, it was very nearly true. They had let Actina sleep the latest not only because she tended to get underfoot, but because she was apt to feel sorry for the frogs. Spiller smiled, remembering how Arrietty had used to play with frogs, and how upset she had been the first time she'd seen him use his bow.

Spiller ate until he was stuffed and then told everyone that he needed a nap. "I was on the river all night," he said, getting up and stretching. "I'm worn out. Just do me a favor and don't start supper without me!"

Everyone laughed and he went to his room. It had been a long time since he'd slept in his childhood bed and it felt very familiar and comfortable. He didn't mind ceding the floor to Halberd or Pod, but it was nice to have a comfortable bed when he was as tired as he was that day. At one point he heard Elegancy arguing with the twins about something, but he soon nodded off anyway.

Semplice and Sennet came to wake him when it was time for supper. He had been dreaming that he was on his boat with Arrietty looking out over the water at a spectacular sunset. It was jarring when he woke up and had his arm tucked under his pillow instead of around her.

He got up, shook his shaggy hair out of his eyes and went into the dining room. They had a nice dinner of frog, peas borrowed from the garden and baked potato with butter and bits of leftover bacon. There was quite a bit of talk about the problems they'd hand when the old woman upstairs had fallen ill for a spell and there had been less food available than usual, Halberd and the wedding.

"He'll be here before the end of the month, I'd wager," Spiller said, helping himself to a bit of banana for dessert. "When is the wedding anyway? October?"

"Yes, October," Sateen said. They discussed the menu for the wedding feast and the sleeping arrangements for the guests "Will you be able to bring his parents?" Sateen asked Spiller.

"I think so," Spiller said. "I hope so."

"Will you bring Arrietty?" Daubery asked, as he reached for another piece of potato. "She's welcome, you know if you'd like to pick her up and bring her along."

Spiller blinked. "Hadn't thought about it. Suppose I could, if there's room in the boat. I'd have to take my big boat. I can ask her anyway. October, or maybe November, if I remember rightly that's about when I turn twenty."

"You don't know when your birthday is?" Actina asked, scandalized.

"Haven't celebrated it in a long time, Tina," Spiller told her. "Not since my parents have been gone."

She looked at him solemnly. "You should just pick a day for your birthday. Pick a special day and remember that and then we can celebrate it with you every year."

He laughed. "Maybe I will." He patted her on the head. He was very fond of this wispy child. He waited until she had gone to bed before he left. Sateen had folded his bread over and spread it with strawberry jam.

"Take this with you," she said. "You need something to eat along the way and we get plenty of bread from upstairs." She gave him a hug. He hugged her back and thanked her. She had been almost a second mother to him for so long that he was used to her affection. Carrying his folded up bread carefully so as not to get his other gear sticky, he headed down the hall and out to his boat.

As he bent to load it he frowned. He was getting a split in the leg of his trousers. He had definitely gotten a bit heavier this season. He impulsively decided to go back to Lupy and see if his winter clothes were ready. September was starting in a couple of days and she always had them done by then. And it wouldn't hurt to maybe go up a few more drains. He could do that better alone than with Halberd. He was learning but he was nervous.

Spiller rode the river that night and stopped to eat and sleep at dawn. He finished half of his bread and jam and washed it down with cold water. When he woke in the late afternoon he cleaned and rearranged his boat. If he was going to beach it by the drain it had to be arranged just so. He had a good hiding spot, but if a hard rain came along, he wanted his best things tucked under the canopy. He missed his kettle dreadfully.

When it was dusk he set off again and reached the beach by morning. When he checked water was pouring out of the drain, so he went back, ate the rest of his bread and jam, took a nap and waited for things to settle down. He scavenged a few hairpins and safety pins, gathered some chestnuts, put them in burlap bags and then decided the baths were about over, so he could safely walk the tunnels. Spiller didn't dare risk going up the drains while humans might be about during the day, but he knew he's be fine once he got to the cottage. He'd have a nice visit with Lupy's family, perhaps talk to young Tom, pick up his winter clothes, and then go back through the drains at night. Pulling his soap box full of chestnuts he started down the tunnel.

When he got to the drain at the groundskeeper's cottage he took the piece of brass curtain rod he always kept secure in the drain and propped up a corner of the grating. He checked the piece of twine tied to the grating to make sure it was still firmly in place. He was afraid eventually overflow water from the sink would rot it out but it still seemed strong enough for him to swing up on. He dragged up his bags in and headed through the wash house door. In the next room, the woodbox was pulled out from the wall just enough and everything was quiet. Autumn light came through the windows and he could see motes of dust in the air under the rafters in front of the main window where the shutters were open.

The Windsor chairs next to the table were partly pulled out and the ashes in the grate were cold.

Tom and his grandfather must have just gone out, Spiller thought to himself. He carried the bags one by one to the hole in the wainscot behind the woodbox and slipped them in, then continued on in himself. The ladder, made of match-sticks neatly spliced to the two long lengths of split cane, was in place and he wondered if perhaps Hendreary and the boys had gone out. He had been hoping for help with the chestnuts. He took the bag with the pins and went up the ladder to the platform and then beyond to the open door.

Candlelight was winking there in the parlor making the doll's house lamps look silly, all for show and good for nothing. Spiller and Arrietty had talked about this once, about the dollhouse furniture's history. He heard voices coming from the next room, and passed by the false window painted with a Swiss mountain scene and headed into the kitchen.

Lupy and Eggletina were in there, Eggletina was poking the fire in the range made from a door-lock and Lupy was wiping one side of the table. Timmis was sitting on the other side drawing something on a scrap paper with a piece of pencil lead.

"Spiller!" Eggletina said happily. "What have you been up to?"

"Been here and there," he said. "Where's everyone else?"

"Tom and his grandfather left to go do whatever gamekeepers do this time of year. The poor old grandfather can't do much of anything anymore, but he stays here with young Tom and does a bit," Eggletina answered. "Papa and the boys went out to the garden to see if there were any beans or peas left."

Spiller looked at Lupy. "Brought you some hairpins and safety pins, and have two bags of chestnuts downstairs. Was hoping someone could help me bring them up."

"I can do it. Let me help, Spiller," Timmis piped up. "I'm growing you see and I'm getting ever so strong!"

Spiller smiled at the eager child who did seem like he had grown since the last time Spiller had seen him. "What if I bring them up the ladder and put them on the landing and you bring them into the flat?"

Lupy looked at Timmis with alarm. "Are you sure he can do that, Spiller?"

"Pretty sure. Let's try it."

Eggletina set down the piece of wire she was using to poke the fire. "I'll go on the landing and stay with Timmis in case he needs help, Mother."

She followed Spiller and Timmis out of the kitchen. "How are Hemiola and Arrietty? I can't believe Halberd's wedding is only a month away."

"Just left Hemiola's parent's place a couple of days ago," Spiller said. "Haven't been by Little Fordham in a bit, though. I need to get back soon. Pod and Homily are almost ready to move to the mill. Might bring Arrietty to the wedding, though."

"I wish I could go," Timmis said, a bit resentfully.

"So do I, "Spiller assured him, "but I can't bring you this time. I'll have a boat full with just Arrietty, Lupy and Hendreary. You'll see the whole lot of them eventually. I can't wait for you to meet the youngest girl, Actina. I think she'd be a good friend for you."

"I'd like to have a friend," Timmis sighed. "I miss Arrietty because she told me stories and then I wasn't lonely."

Spiller climbed onto the ladder and headed down. Now there's a thought. Perhaps in a few years I can fix up Timmis and Actina, since I seem to be so good at matchmaking. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and started back up with a bag of chestnuts.

Lupy had his winter clothes ready but it wasn't really cold enough yet to wear them all yet, so he just put on the new trousers and the vest. He folded up the coat she had made him and stuffed it into a waterproof bag. By that time the boys and Hendreary were coming back with the last of the blackberries, some peas and green beans, and a potato. Spiller helped them get everything into the storeroom.

Lupy made soup while they all sat around and discussed the wedding plans again. Lupy was not eager to ride in Spiller's boat to the wedding, but Hendreary, having heard all about it from Halberd was looking forward to it.

"I'm going to try to sleep late in the morning," Spiller warned everyone when they sat down to a dinner of soup and chestnut, with blackberries for dessert. "Once the old man goes to bed I have a few things to discuss with young Tom so I'll probably be getting to bed late. I want to travel back to Little Fordham by night, so I want to be as rested as possible. I'll go up the ladder while you're all asleep and stay in Pod's old flat."

"You have to eat, though," Lupy said. "Why don't I send one of the boys to wake you in the afternoon if you're not down sooner than that?"

"Perfect," said Spiller.

They heard the humans come home, heard the clattering and stomping that go with human inhabitation. Spiller knew the old man went to bed early after a long day afield. He was getting quite old and his health was not good anymore. Tom liked to stay downstairs longer so Spiller was pretty sure he would be able to talk to him before he went to bed.

When it got late enough that Lupy began to hint it was getting nigh onto bedtime, Spiller took his gear upstairs and set it down next to Arrietty's old bed. Then he went back down the ladder. Sure enough, Tom Goodenough was at the table cleaning guns. He looked up when Spiller called to him.

"Hallo, Spiller," Tom said. He seemed to have already grown since the previous visit Spiller had made that summer. "Back so soon? Don't usually see you this often."

"I've been here and there. Haven't been spending as much time over by the gypsies, since you told me how many caravans have been stopping there. Mild Eye will never forgive us for what we done with Pod and Homily and Arrietty."

Tom set the rag he was using down. "Ever see 'em? How are they? I miss Arrietty. Most sociable borrower I ever saw."

"She's fine," Spiller said, "at least I hope she is. We've got to start planning our wedding come the spring."

"Are you still talking about getting married?" Tom was dumbfounded. "What do you want to do that for? She's nice enough but why do you need a girl traipsing around with you? They don't know anything about hunting, or fishing, the woods or the river. Girls are useless to people who like the out of doors like you and I do."

Spiller shrugged, surprised. He honestly thought Tom, who was nearly full grown even for a human, would have developed some interest in girls by his age. Must be a late bloomer, Spiller thought, and then answered, "I used to feel that way, too. Like I told you before, I'd think, girls, so what? But then I started talking to Arrietty and realized having a girl was a good thing. You'll see, just like I said. Someday you'll feel the same way about someone. You'll see it's nice to have a girl."

"I hope not," Tom said, and Spiller laughed.

They talked some more about gypsies, poaching, how his grandfather was doing which was not well. To Tom's great relief, though, old Sir Montague had definitely promised Tom that the cottage was his for life. Tom was relieved because he never wanted to leave the cottage and had been afraid that when his grandfather passed he would be forced out. His parents were dead and his only remaining relative, an uncle who lived in Leighton Buzzard, would not have been particularly happy if Tom had been sent to live with him permanently Tom had stayed with his Uncle Fred several times and when he was in town his uncle worked him to death indoors the last place Tom liked to be.

Tom still mourned his old tame ferret which had starved to death when Tom had last gone to stay with his uncle the last time. Spiller tried to console him, telling him that he could probably find another one to tame with very little trouble but advised him not to put a bell on it the next time. Spiller thought that a collar would be good enough to indicate that it was tame ferret and not a wild one. Tom had a horse now, and a small wagon he used when he went into town for supplies, and he was very proud of that horse.

"He's part Barb, the nicest gelding you'll ever see. Wonderful temperament he has. My Uncle Fred found him for me. He thought a horse would be a good thing for us to have since Granddad's doing so poorly. If I ever have to take him in to the hospital again I can do it myself. I can get to Leighton Buzzard or even Holmcroft in a couple of hours."

Then Tom began to tell Spiller about his side job, which was splitting hazel to make thatching. His grandfather had been doing it when he was laid up, and Tom thought it was a good idea to learn. "It brings in a bit of extra money now, and if I ever get sick or live until I'm old, I can still earn my keep doing it. Clever isn't it?"

"Anything useful you learn any time is a good thing," Spiller conceded.

Finally when Tom could hardly keep his eyes open any longer they said goodbye. Tom gave Spiller a hardboiled egg as a goodbye present, and Spiller rolled it into the wall and his it in the same shavings that Arrietty had used to hide the egg the time that she and Pod and Homily had to escape the house. Then Spiller went up to bed as well, and climbed into the small bed that Arrietty used to use. He had to admit he missed her. Got to go back to Little Fordham, he thought as he drew his quilt over him.

Spiller slept so long that Grego had to climb the ladder to wake him at tea time. When he came down, Hendreary asked anxiously if young Tom had said anything interesting the night before. As Spiller buttered a piece of bread he explained to them how Tom had been promised the groundskeeper's job when his grandfather was done. They were all glad to hear this. Hendreary was especially pleased for him.

"We're used to him, you see," he said, taking a sip of tea.

To Spiller's annoyance, though, Halberd wanted to know if Spiller would go with him back to Daubery's place. He planned to stay there until the wedding. Sateen he said, had promised to make him a new suit for it, and he wanted to be there for fittings. Halberd thought it would be too crowded in the knife box boat if Spiller had to bring Lupy, Hendreary, Arrietty and him to the wedding. Spiller knew this sudden concern for his boat was really based on Halberd's longing to see Hemiola again, but he finally agreed, if Halberd could be packed to go by nightfall.

"I need to get on my way," Spiller said soberly. "I got lots to do."

After the meal, Halberd went to pack his things, and Lupy got tearful. "I can't believe he's getting married," she sniffled into a handkerchief.

"Don't worry, old girl," Hendreary told her, patting her shoulder. "We'll get to see the wedding, and perhaps we can even go visit once in awhile if Spiller's willing to take us, and Halberd and his young lady can come visit us."

Spiller sighed. He had not planned on becoming a taxi service, but all he could do was nod and try to console Lupy until he and Halberd could get out of there and get to Daubery's house. He would have to sort that out with Halberd later.

By that time Arrietty had not seen Spiller for over a month. That was the longest she had gone without seeing him since they were trapped in the attic. At first she did not mind. She was happy for Halberd and happy that Spiller was helping him get ready for his new life. She also knew that Spiller had other places to go and things to do. She was also well aware that when he did return they would start the process of moving to the mill, which she was not looking forward to. Better to stay at Little Fordham as long as possible. Summer at Little Fordham was not the same without Spiller, though. They'd had so much fun the year before.

Arrietty and Homily decided to go ahead and work on clothes while they were waiting for Spiller to come back. They took dropped handkerchiefs and scarves and started making more new dresses and aprons for themselves and some shirts for Pod.

Several times when Arrietty got bored and went for a walk with her father when he was scavenging after the visitors had left she found scraps of fabric near the spot where Miss Menzies always stopped when she was trying to stay out of sight of the Crown. These were always suitable for Pod's jackets, vests and trousers. He was puzzled as to how they had come to be there but Arrietty was not.

Homily also began to make a shirt and pair of trousers for Spiller, to wear to the wedding, she said.

"He won't take it," said Arrietty. "He'd rather die than wear it."

"None the less, I'm going to try to civilize him a bit," Homily answered firmly. "I won't make it anything too fitted, too tight, but just something a bit more regular than fur and leather. If he can wear Lupy's clothes, he can wear mine."

The shirt was a sort of tunic, with long sleeves. It looked like something Arrietty had seen once in a history book the boy at Firbank had asked her to read to him. It was sort of a peasant shirt if she was remembering right. It had a roomy body gathered to the yoke throughout the back, front and sleeves, and looked comfortable enough. It has a long tail that would not hinder Spiller's movement and the sleeves were a bit puffy with bead buttons at the cuffs.

"I wish I could get him to wear a cravat," Homily said with a sigh, when Arrietty admitted it was smart looking, "but it's no use pushing too hard."

The trousers were lightweight wool, quite loose and had a high rise. They had two sideseam pockets that Homily thought might make them more acceptable to Spiller, and a button fly, with buttons for braces, although Arrietty wasn't sure if they'd be able to convince Spiller to actually wear suspenders.

Those were heavy duty, made out of canvas, with leather trim made with leftover scraps from shoes Pod had made. When the whole outfit was done, it was quite impressive, but at the same time comfortable and casual looking. Arrietty hoped Spiller would at least appreciate the work that had gone into it and not say something rude.

Pod began to make them all extra pairs of shoes, and Homily and Arrietty started knitting socks, jumpers and pullovers. Homily made Pod a handsome jumper out of white yarn in a pattern like Irish fishermen wore. A group of visitors had come to see the railroad wearing cream colored Aran sweaters, speaking to Mr. Pott in the sweetest of Irish brogues. They had worked in the Ballingarry Coal Mines and had quite a lot to talk to him about. He had stumped about the village with them and their families long after the railroad usually closed for the day and then Mr. Pott had invited them in for tea with Miss Menzies.

Pod, Homily and Arrietty had been waiting for the human beings to leave so Pod could have a quick whip around and see if the visitors had left any good borrowings that day. He and Arrietty had sneaked out and followed them about at closing time as they talked and walked back to the house.

According to the miners, the type of coal they had mined was called anthracite and was a hard, virtually smokeless fuel with relatively low ash content, but they had to admit it still led to nasty air quality and they had sad stories to tell of mining-related deaths. They said that in the 1840s, which had been the peak years, 50,000 tons of coal per year was extracted from their mines. That impressed Mr. Pott.

Pod and Arrietty found the miners fascinating, but didn't listen for too long. They had other business to take care of. While Miss Menzies gave biscuits and milk to the children and tea and cakes to the women, and Mr. Pott gave a somewhat harder beverage to the men, Pod managed with Arrietty's help to borrow a roll of twine and a spool of wire from Mr. Pott's workshop. Pod thought it might come in handy at the mill.

As they dragged it back to the pub, Arrietty said shortly, "How are we ever going to get everything to the mill? Spiller's boat won't hold all this."

"It will take more than one trip," Pod admitted. "I hope Spiller gets back soon. The summer's waning."

They had to put these things into Spiller's downstairs bedroom to get them out of the way. Then they went in to have dinner and tell Homily all about the Irish visitors.

"Imagine that!" She exclaimed. "They came all that way and stopped here? Little Fordham is that famous? Who would have thought it?"

"Mr. Pott and Miss Menzies are very clever!" Arrietty said loyally. "I wish Spiller could have been here. He would have liked all of those stories about the mines. When do you suppose he will come?"

"Soon, I'm sure," Homily said, patting Arrietty on the shoulder. "He's all right, Arrietty. Nothing ever happens to Spiller."

But he did not come that week or the week after. It was getting into August and even Homily was beginning to worry. Pod was not worried, but he was anxious. "He has lots of things to do," Pod conceded, "and I'm sure Daubery and Hendreary are having him pick up things for the wedding, but I wish he'd come back. I know he and Halberd are probably trying to get chestnuts stored and fish and game smoked for the winter, and Sateen and Spiller's friend Arista probably wants all sorts of fruit to make jam with. That has to be done now but I'd like to be setting up at the mill, too."

Homily looked up alarmed. "You aren't thinking of trying to go without him are you? Pod, I don't want to risk the river without Spiller. Even if we could make a raft or a boat or something, I wouldn't want to try it. We're comfortable here and managing all right."

"Yes, but winter will be here before you know it," Pod started to say and Homily threw up her hands.

"Don't talk to me about winter! You know how it vexes me."

"Spiller won't leave us here over winter," Arrietty said, "but we could make jam, too. There are still some blackberries and strawberries down by the river and we've got plenty of sugar. Why don't we try it, Mother?"

"What will we put it in?" Homily asked, and Arrietty thought about this.

"I think Miss Menzies has some little containers we could use. I could borrow them one day when she and Mr. Pott go out." Having said this, though, she had to take a piece of paper out of her desk and with one of her precious miniature pencils write a note:

Dear Miss Menzies,  
Mother and I want to make jam. Can  
you think of anything we can use to put

it in? Please let me know. If you find  
something put it on the back step.  
Thank you.  
Your friend,  
Arrietty Clock

She slipped into the kitchen one afternoon after she had seen Miss Menzies and Mr. Pott go to town and left in the sewing basket, right on top. When she came home she told her mother that she hadn't been able to get into the room where she and Spiller had gone borrowing before and that she would try again as soon as it was safe. She kept checking and after two days there was a neat little cardboard box with a lid on the porch. It was so heavy that Arrietty wished that she had told Miss Menzies to leave it at their usual spot behind the alder tree near the pub but by getting her hand under one side of the lid Arrietty was able to drag it home.

When she got near the Crown and Anchor she was hot and sweaty. Pod had to come out to help her. Inside the box were a dozen small jars with lids. They all speculated on what they had been intended for but whatever they were they were just right for jam.

"The box would make a lovely trunk for our new clothes," Homily said. "We could pack up all of the things we made that we don't need to use now and have them ready to take to the mill. If," she added, "Spiller would only come. Where is that boy?"

Arrietty wondered too, but the next two evenings were spent down by the river picking berries and during the day they made the jam. Wandering along the river bank though, with Spiller's burlap bags, Arrietty wondered where he was and what he was doing that was taking so long. Was he sick? Hurt? Had he just decided she was not the right girl for him after all? Had he found someone else? Picturing Spiller with a phantom girl, who always had thick ankles in Arrietty's mind, made her furious. She took her anger out on the poor berries as she chopped and crushed them while Homily melted some of the wax she had gotten from Lupy to seal the jars. Lids were fine for the moment but in the long term the jars needed more protection from spoiling.

As the days passed, Arrietty began to be tense with worry and snapped at her parents more than she should have. She began to spend a lot of time in her room, punching her pillow with anger and weeping herself to sleep. She knew Spiller had not meant to be gone so long and began to worry again that he was in a gypsy's bird cage being exhibited at the fair, or that he had been drowned on a storm, or shut in somewhere. She missed looking at his black eyes sparkling as they looked back at her, his v-shaped smile, and his shaggy black hair. She missed his laugh. She missed him physically, too, his kisses and the feel of his arms around her and the wonderful ways he had of touching her.

Please, she whispered to herself, Spiller please come home.


End file.
